Shards of Impossibility
by Cybertramon001
Summary: In a world where the villains outnumber the heroes, where black and white becomes grey, there is a new force entering the game. A weapon more powerful than anyone can fully understand. And as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. There will be changes in the world, and cities will shake. A Prototype/Worm crossover. Rated M for blood and swearing.
1. The First Steps to a Comic Book World

**Hey there. I know I said that I wouldn't be working on any more stories until I get through my current workload. But this isn't really me starting a story. I'm just posting this to show some Prototype/Worm fans what I wrote, and to ask some questions to said fans to help me with my story. This probably won't be updated for a while, so that gives me time to work things out and add them in based on what you guys say.**

 **For now though, just give it a read and tell me what you think.**

* * *

 **Shards of Impossibility**

 **Chapter 1: The First Steps to Surviving a Comic Book World**

The sun was almost completely gone by the time the Bay Central Bank decided to close its doors. Jeffrey, the manager there, sighed in relief as the last customer left them alone. Fucking nightmare today. So many people wanted loans for some reason or another. Building a new extension, replacing a stolen car, covering damages incurred during a parahuman attack. And of course, none of them were happy that they couldn't grab some extra cash from them. But there were _rules_. Regulations. If they shelled out everytime something was broken during an attack, they'd be out of business within weeks. And so he told them what he had to tell every other client dealing with parahuman problems.

If they wanted it sorted, either take it up with their insurance companies or the PRT.

He sighed again, looking at the security guard sitting behind his screens. "God, somedays I wish I had your job, Phil."

Phil looked up at him, a heavy frown on his face. But then he seemed to recognise him and gave him a tight smile. "Don't think you would, Jeff. Every night I worry that some parahuman is gonna come smashing in here intent on taking the money while all I've got is a flashlight." Phil was a good man. The usual type. A family man, a wife with child, mortgages, the lot. Jeffrey had known him since they both started here, and while he'd always moan and complain he would still keep coming every week.

"Pfft. There's _always_ a risk when money's involved." Jeffrey replied.

"At least you can call the PRT to help out. Cops aren't usually too pleased to be woken up at some ungodly hour because of a slovenly security guard."

Drew shrugged. "Well, you know what everyone says…"

Phil gave a forced laugh. "It's my problem now?"

"It's your problem now. Catch you later Phil." And he started heading towards the doors, ready to return to a hot dinner and a relaxing bath.

"Hey Jeffrey." He stopped as Phil called out to him. "Afraid I'm gonna have to cancel on our bowling night on Wednesday. Got other plans made."

"The missus?"

"The missus." Phil nodded.

"Ok then. 'A happy wife is a happy life' and all that. But you definitely owe me next week." He closed the doors behind him, Phil locking them securely behind him. The overweight security guard waved to him as he drove off. Only once Jeffrey had left did Phil drop the smile and the hand. He frowned as he looked around the empty parking lot, looking for possible threats.

"I don't owe you shit Jeffrey." Phil said in a gravelly voice, as his body started changing. As a wave of red and black tendrils roiled over his body, a slimmer man dressed in a black hoodie and jeans walked towards the giant vault door.

* * *

A week ago, the viral lifeform known as Alex Mercer hadn't been expecting to spend a night as a security guard. But then again, a week ago he hadn't expected much beyond keeping one step ahead of Blackwatch.

You see, Alex was originally a bioweapons/super soldier project known as Blacklight, the ultimate weapon against any organic threat. His very existence broke over a dozen humane and safety laws, and Blackwatch was meant to ensure that things like him were kept in check. And to silence anyone who started looking into the shell company Gentek too much. Ironically, in the attempt to purge Gentek of unimportant workers after one got cold feet and tried to tattle, they ended up causing events that unleashed him upon the world. The original Alex Mercer, a man devoid of anything resembling empathy for his fellow man, felt pissed that he was regarded as expendable. Especially since _he_ was the one who perfected Blacklight. He stole a sample of his work and attempted to flee to Penn Station, where Blackwatch managed to corner him. So he decided that if _he_ was going down, the so was everyone else.

As he was shot to death, he shattered the vial he had stolen. And the sample, now taking Alex's identity and form, woke up to Hell on Earth. A world where monsters roamed the streets, Blackwatch was barely holding them back, and everything just kept getting worse. And where him, a sociopathic entity designed and bred to infect and kill and grow, a being who consumed scores of people whole and painted entire streets red with blood, was the closest thing to a hero. It was only his connection to his new sister Dana Mercer - and her acceptance of what he was – that helped him stay sane. He worked hard to undo his 'father's' mess. It nearly killed him. It nearly left him dying. It nearly killed Dana. But he had done it. He broke the infection. He killed its leaders. He wiped out the leaders of Blackwatch. And he stopped their attempt to nuke New York City and everyone living in it, and survived.

But the men stationed in New York hadn't been _all_ of Blackwatch. Just the ones that had been ordered there, under the assumption that they were more than enough to contain the infection. There were plenty more in every state, in every government arm, at every level of leadership. And they were all determined to wipe him from the face of the planet. And so they followed the same old routine. He and Dana would run to a new hiding place in a city. He would blend in with his shapeshifting to get them money while she worked to expose Blackwatch's actions to the public. Eventually, one of them would slip up and accidently reveal themselves, and Blackwatch would find them. He'd kill every agent they sent, they'd run, and then they started the whole thing over again. He was living through life without a purpose, just determined to keep Dana safe. She wasn't _really_ his sister. But she was all he had.

This all changed one fateful day, where two men grabbed Dana as she went for a walk. Alex followed them to an impossibility, a white sterile room connected to an alleyway, before _something_ shoved them both out in a different place. Inside an abandoned church.

Well, it didn't take them long to find out where they were. They were still in America. Still in that shitty town they had been living in for three weeks. It was just that now they were in a world where superheroes were real, have been fact for decades now. Some world unofficially known as Earth Bet. It made him wonder what their world had been called. And whether they wanted to go back.

But for now, the means to do so were beyond their reach. No one could travel to another Earth (besides their mystery kidnappers). With no money, no home, no one they could reach or even a log in any system, they were forced to become homeless. It wasn't the kind of world Dana deserved. Anyone stuck out on the streets was vulnerable. To the greedy, to the violent, to anyone interested in flesh or just hurting others. He could protect her from all of that, but she still wanted better.

At the time, robbing a bank had seemed the best option.

Enough funds to afford a house, afford food, afford some sense of protection. Most people in his situation, with near-unstoppable healing, super strength and speed, and the ability to adapt, would have gone over the top with their robbery. Attack in broad daylight, rib the door with their bare hands, beat up the kid heroes and walk off as the biggest headline of the week. Make a name for themselves. Become notorious.

But when you _also_ have the power to take on the appearance, mannerisms and memories of anyone you please, the loud approach was stupid. Better to work in the shadows, and let the law chase after a dead man instead.

So here he was, now Phil Bennings, with the security cameras deactivated an hour ago and with all the keys to the building. By the time anyone realised they were robbed, Phil would be long gone. And Dana would be living in a _real_ home. He tapped away at the keypad for the vault door, Phil's memories reciting it over and over in his head. He deactivated the alarm, the silent alarm, the _secret_ alarm meant to alert the PRT… And then his enhanced strength let him swing the door open like it was barely weighing anything.

Now _that_ was how you rob a bank. Quiet, easy, no mess or fuss.

His chest opened up like a giant maw, spitting out the two large bags he had stored in there. Then he grew several arms and started packing in as much money as the bags could physically hold. The physicists in his head calculated the volume of the bags, the mass of the money bundles, the integrity of the seams… All happened in mere seconds. And with their help, he managed to load up as much as they could carry without splitting at the seams. He ignored all the vaults he remembered had documents and art in them. None of them interested him. None of them were cold hard cash. He didn't want something he could use in five years' time. He needed something _now_.

With a casual flick of his wrist, he sealed the vault door behind him. It slammed shut with a boom, the rods locking back in place again. With a flourish of his key, he unlocked the front doors and walked out with his bags, locking the doors behind him and throwing away the key. If he ever needed to break in again, he could always just make a new key from his biomass. All in all, the act itself only took him thirty minutes to accomplish. In, out, no one the wiser.

At least, that's what he thought until something landed behind him, sending a blast of air outwards. "Hold it right there, scumbag." A female voice ordered.

Fucking superheroes.

He growled as he turned, hiding his face behind a black featureless faceplate. Apart from his clothes (which he had made more dull for this job) his face was his most vulnerable place in terms of 'staying off the radar'. Though he could assume a new identity (and usually did) he felt attached to the Alex Mercer Identity. Maybe because it was the first one he had. Maybe because he wanted to atone for his father's actions. Maybe because Dana preferred it too. But he didn't want to lose it because of some nosy bitch. So when he finally faced Glory Girl, all she could see was a darkness under his hood.

"Drop the bags pal, and I _might_ go easy on you." She said haughtily. He tried to remember what Phil had heard of her. Part of New Wave, a superhero family that believed that people like them shouldn't hide behind masks and names, be fully accountable. The movement lost progress when a heroine was murdered in her civilian identity. Stupid really. Standard 'flying brick' powers, meaning flight and super strength. Has some kind of invincible barrier. Also has the power to radiate an aura that embolden allies and frighten enemies. She's gonna be a right pain to deal with.

He rolled his non-existent eyes and turned away, moving to jump away. He didn't have the time or inclination to get involved in this fight. He could easily lose her, change shape, and sneak back to Dana. Every minute he left her alone was another minute she could be in trouble. He was stopped though by an unfamiliar feeling.

A hand gripping his collar.

He growled again as he slammed his elbow against her, it coming in contact with a firm barrier. But he managed to slip free, his collar breaking in her hand. As he landed, he noticed that he _did_ manage to make some progress. The redness of her face told him that he had been heavier than she had been expecting. She just glared right back at him and cranked up her aura. A part of him - a primal _human_ part – told him to start running, to drop the bags and get the hell out of there. But it was a quiet voice, and he silenced it with ease. He _did_ however drop the bags. They were only going to get in the way during this fight.

Glory Girl smirked as she rolled her shoulders. "Really? You want to fight _me_? Haven't you heard by now? I'm invincible. You can't hurt me."

He didn't say anything back. He didn't banter, mock, or threaten. He just moved towards her at top speed and slammed a fist into her stomach. His theory was that even though she could ignore the blow, she must still have to obey Newton's laws. The kinetic force behind his punches must still do _something_ to her. And so when he punched her, she was thrown back through the air by the force. Her surprised expression was enjoyable. But then she righted herself and flew towards him at high speed, fist extended. He jumped over her, but she simply flipped over and flew at him again. A quick burst from him air dash organ allowed him to dodge a second time, his hand lashing out as she passed. The blow bounced off her barrier, but it _also_ pushed him away from her. She simply changed directions again, still aiming for him. Her expression was getting more and more angry. Evidently she wasn't used to someone dodging her so much. Instead of dodging again, he formed a shield from his arms. She slammed into it at top speed, slamming them both into the ground. He pushed her aside with his shield, feeling slight cracks in the hardened membrane. Looks like if he was going to fight again, he'll have to strengthen it some more. He dropped the barrier and glared at the dust-covered heroine, trying to…

Wait. Dust-covered. But her barrier was supposed to protect her from everything, including getting dirty in a fight.

An idea started forming in his head. He charged towards her again. She simply rolled her eyes and flew at him as well. He blocked her punch with his hand, his lack of bones allowing him to ignore the force behind it. He slammed his other fist into her stomach again, hitting the barrier yet again. But _this_ _time_ , he released her fist and slammed his _other_ hand into her. This one met no resistance, and the sound of cracking bone filled the air. Glory Girl's eyes widened as she gave off a soundless cry of pain. He felt the barrier reform under his hand, but he still smirked.

He knew her weakness.

She lashed out wildly at him, but strength doesn't mean speed. He dodged it with ease and unleashed another one-two punch. His fist shattered her pelvis, causing her to flop to the ground. As she tried to reach towards him, he simply slammed his fist against her chest before giving a sharp tap to the head. She was out like a light.

Well, looks like Glory Girl wasn't as tough as she pretended. Under that barrier was a simple flesh-and-blood human. She wasn't worth the energy to feed, and she might also not be alone out here. So he grabbed the bags and ran for it, leaving her in a shattered heap on the ground.

One bank robbery, minus some complications, done.

* * *

Even as the sound of breaking wood reached her brain and jolted her awake, Dana was already moving to cover. Months of dealing with Blackwatch's raids had instilled in her a series of steps and plans. Step one was to evaluate the dangers. No point moving towards the back door when some shithead was already there waiting.

She peeked out over the ragged table she had been using for a bed. Three men, their clothes threadbare, were standing in the doorway, her improvised barricade in pieces. They were breathing heavily, eyes seemingly bloodshot, swaying where they stood, and the leader had a bottle in his hand. At least, she assumed he was the leader, since he was the biggest and ugliest one.

Wow. Even when they didn't have any money, some people could still get alcohol. What a fucking surprise.

"Spread out." The leader shouted in a slurred speech. "Some bitch and her brother live here, and I got a hankering for some ass." Oh god, really? Did this asshole wake her up to try and rape her? She rolled her eyes in disgust. Whatever. The bank only closed nearly an hour ago. Assuming Alex, she should be well on his way back by now.

That just meant that she had to hold out until he returned. Her hand grabbed a large stick of wood nearby. As one of the men rounded towards her, she sprung out from cover to bash him upside the head. He howled in pain, hand grasping for her jaw. She slammed him again and again, knocking him to the ground. The problem with drunks is that they tend to ignore more injuries. You had to be rough to get them down. But as she turned towards the next guy, the leader grabbed her stick. He leered at her as he grabbed her arm with his other hand, pulling the stick away from her. She responded by slamming her head against his, knocking out some blood and making her head ring. As she stumbled back, she felt hands grabbing her arms. She tried to struggle free, swearing and kicking, but he just powered on through the pain. The leader glared at her now, face covered in blood. He slapped her across the cheek once, nearly knocking her to the floor. Damn this asshole was strong. She felt his dirty hands grab her jacket, tugging on it as he tried to tear it open. But as she opened her eyes and glared at him, she saw someone else standing outside the window.

In a second, there was a person-shaped hole in the wall, and two halves of a man splattering the room. The third drunk barely had time to scream before Alex had ripped his head clean off. He turned as the final man tried to run, only getting the doorway before Alex pulled him back with a tendril. He snapped his neck and pulled him in, removing all traces of him. Only then did he look at her again.

"I could've taken them." She said with bravado, hand pressed against her cheek. Alex moved her hand away and rested his own against her face. She felt a wetness before her nerves went numb, and he moved his hand to her forehead. A twinge of pain, and the bruise was gone.

"You shouldn't have _had_ to take them on." He growled. As in literally growled. Whenever she was threatened, Alex got angry, even by _his_ standards. Then anything within reach usually ended up very dead. "I should've been here to keep them out."

She shrugged, moving back to the desk that had been her bed, pushing aside the sleeping bag she had been using so Alex could throw the bags onto it. "You can't be everywhere at once, Alex. Sometimes you've gotta put one thing over another. Tonight was just bad luck, that's all. Any other night those assholes might've just left me alone."

Alex started pacing the room. Whenever he got worked up like this, he just couldn't sit still. It was like he _had_ to be doing something. "It's that damn hero's fault. If she hadn't wasted my time on some bullshit fight, I would've been back before this ever happened." She looked up at him in alarm.

"Hold up. What hero? I thought this was meant to be a clean job."

He rolled his shoulders. "I got jumped by that New Wave chick, Glory Girl. She must've been doing a patrol or something and spotted me. Don't worry though. I kicked the shit out of her."

"You kicked the shit out of Glory Girl. As in the invincible girl." She raised an eyebrow at him. "I know you can do some crazy fucked up shit Alex, but I'm pretty sure you can't do the impossible like that. Her barrier's indestructible."

"Not entirely true. Not sure why, but I think that after every solid hit it takes, it shorts out for a second. You just have to hit her twice in rapid succession to overcome it."

"So, without it…?"

"She's human. With all the implied weaknesses." He noticed her glaring at him, and seemed to remember their newest rule. "I didn't kill her. Just left her in a broken heap. She should be ok as long as they get her to a hospital in the next two to three hours." He shrugged, one of the human motions he liked to use. "Besides, she shouldn't have gotten in my way."

She gave a heavy sigh, but decided to drop it. It wasn't like she was gonna be able to convince Alex that he had done something wrong. He was trying, really. But he didn't understand morality the same way she did. To him, if something is threatening him or anything he cares about, then it needs to be dealt with. Usually in a way that meant that it wouldn't be a threat any longer. Like that sleaze ball she tried to date one time. He wouldn't accept no, tried to force himself on her. After getting the shit beaten out of him by her, he turned to see Alex standing right behind him. The most wanted man in America.

At least he had gotten the blood out of everything afterwards.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure how much you managed to grab, but it looks like it'll be enough to at least put a deposit on a new home. But it'll have to be on the cheap side." He gave her a dubious look. "Hey, homes are expensive. Robbing banks are meant to supplement your bank account, not start it."

"But it's enough to get you to a safer place, right?" He asked.

She smiled in return. "It's enough." Tomorrow, I'll go to the internet café and start looking for a place. You can just…" She waved a hand at him. "…Do whatever it is you do when you're not following me." An idea came to her, and she snapped her fingers. "I know. You could look up about the local heroes and villains. Find out what they can do, how dangerous they are; things like that."

Alex looked at her in confusion. "Why? I'm not planning on getting into a pissing match with these people."

"Just like you weren't planning on kicking Glory Girl to the curb. Alex, she's one of the tougher people in the city. The kind of girl that everyone looks up to for protection. And having an unknown just show up and take her down… Well, that's gonna scare a lot of people. Some of them are probably gonna keep a look out for you. Get revenge or lock you up or something. And what if you need to commit another crime like this and you get jumped again? You're tough, I'll admit, but you're not fucking invincible."

"Neither are they." He saw the look in her eyes, and relented. "But I suppose it might be a good idea to learn the local power structure. Help with making any plans in the future."

"Thanks." She said in relief. Yeah, he was actually a bioweapon wearing her brother's face, but he was still her brother. If anything, getting killed and brought back as someone else seemed to have made him a slightly better person than before. The corners of Alex's mouth twitched upwards as he tried to smile while he grabbed the bags of money and dropped them to the floor. She yawned as she moved the sleeping bag back into place, crawling into it and snuggling up.

Alex stood in the center of the room, ready to kill anything that tried to disturb her sleep.

* * *

I sat down on the couch with a loud sigh. Me and Brian had just spent the better part of an hour training in hand-to-hand combat. Something that'll allow me to still fight when I don't have my bugs to support me, or if the people I'm up against get too close to me. It had been a real workout. Brian had been holding back, focusing more on the teaching than the fighting, and he still managed to knock me around a bit. My shoulders ached from where he had been jabbing them. Beside me, Alec was busy playing a video game. Brian was doing some exercises, stretching out his joints and muscles so that they don't seize up or something. A part of me was enjoying just hanging out with other kids around my age (even if they _were_ actually supervillains), but another part was getting impatient about finding out dirt on them. Something I could give to the Protectorate to bring them down, get me some recognition and jumpstart my career.

Maybe it was time to try broaching a subject. But how?

"So how do you guys get all this stuff?" I asked, waving a hand at the room around them. Even though it was set up in an abandoned loft, it was surprisingly well-kept. Had water and everything apparently. "I can't imagine you guys just going out and buying all this with some stolen loot."

"Actually, we steal most of it." Alec said, not looking away from his gaming. "We find some rich home filled with junk, break in, and then steal everything not nailed down. It's hilarious to see the owners wake up to empty rooms. One time, Brian managed to steal the bed the owners were sleeping in."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up asshole." Brian replied. But his tone didn't sound very serious. Probably some 'boys-making-fun-of-each-other' thing. "We _do_ buy some things with our loot, but a lot of the essentials here – water, power, the building itself, and our gear – is supplied by our boss."

I tried to appear as though I wasn't so interested. "Sounds expensive. Who _is_ this mystery guy anyway?" Both Alec and Brian went silent. I turned to see them exchanging a look. Was I being too nosy? Had Tattletale already figured out that I was secretly a mole? Or was I just not as good as appearing a villain as they made me think I was?

"Thought you might ask something like that." Brian grunted, standing back up. My heart shivered as I tried to decipher his tone. "Thing is, we don't know _who_ he is. Or she."

I frowned. Deeply. "We've got some kind of anonymous sponsor?"

"Yep. Really fucking weird, but I'm not complaining." Alec said. "We get cool gear, a nice team, free cash; everything you could possibly want without any drawbacks."

"But there's got to be _something_ they get from you guys. No offence, but I can't see someone sponsoring a team of villains for no reason."

Brian chuckled. "None taken. We _do_ do some jobs for them. But most of the time they're stuff we'd already do anyway. Win-win for everyone. And if we don't feel comfortable with something, we can always say no. He's not gonna force us to do a sleazy job that we don't like. He never makes an issue out of it."

I felt intrigued. How many of the Undersiders' jobs had actually been on order of this sponsor? Maybe the PRT could find a connection. "What kind of jobs does he have you guys do?"

"Mostly robberies and stuff." Lisa – otherwise known as Tattletale – said from behind me, giving me a fright. "I think it's more about the timing than the money, since he tends to offer to pay us to do them."

Brian didn't look surprised to see her sneaking up on them. Or maybe it had only been _me_ that got snuck up on. "He's got a job planned for us right now?"

"Kinda." Lisa said. "He wants us to pull a big job next Thursday, something big enough to get everyone's attention and get on the front page. He's probably planning a hit that day, and wants us to draw everyone away from his target."

Brian didn't look too happy. "Anything big like that is gonna end up getting us caught. The PRT aren't going to just sit this out. Add in the Wards and the Protectorate, and we'll be running up against a solid wall of heroes waiting for us."

Lisa shook her head. "The Protectorate is going to be out of town that day, which is likely _why_ he chose it in the first place. That just leaves the Wards and New Wave, and luckily for us, we can hit during school time."

"How is that lucky?" I asked in confusion. Four… Five school kids out during school hours? The police were definitely going to pay attention if they spotted us.

"Because it means that we won't be dealing with _all_ of the Wards." Lisa explained, smiling. "Everyone in Arcadia knows that the Wards are based there, and they're itching to find out their secret identities. Nothing like having a cape for a friend to make you more popular. But because everyone's looking for them, the school can't send the same dozen people out all the time. It'll give the game away. So we'll likely end up fighting two of their strongest, or one and several weaker members. Those are odds we _can_ beat."

"There's still New Wave to deal with though." Brian argued, right at the same time Alec said "Why don't we rob a bank or something?"

Lisa sighed. "Well, the Bay Central Bank was my first idea. But that's a no-go now since someone new got to it last night."

I frowned again. I hadn't heard anything about a bank robbery. But then again, I didn't really have time this morning to read the papers. Alec paused his game and gave Lisa his full attention.

"I thought they said that was an inside job. That a security guard did it or something."

Lisa shook her head. "That's the 'official' story. But what the papers _don't_ tell you is that Glory Girl caught the thief in the act, tried to bring him down. Now she's stuck at home getting healed by Panacea, while New Wave is busy looking for this new creep. I don't think they'll give up the hunt just for us. Not when the Wards could deal with us instead."

"Hold on. Glory Girl got her ass beaten? Even Brian was surprised by this. "But how? She's invincible."

Lisa shrugged. "Guess she's not as invincible as everyone thinks. All my powers can tell me is that she suffered plenty of broken bones and internal bleeding. So whoever did this is pretty damn strong."

"So what are we gonna do instead? There's not much going on in Brockton Bay that can get on the news." Brian asked.

"The Bay Central isn't the only bank in town. We could just rob another one." Alec suggested. "And hey, two bank robberies in two nights? That'll be worth going in the newspaper."

"Yeah, except that the other banks are going to be more prepared thanks to this. They'll be more suspicious of any strange activity, more likely to call the PRT at the first sign of trouble. They think there's any funny business, and the whole thing gets ten times more challenging."

Alec mulled things over, before looking at me with a wicked gleam in his eyes. "Hey dork. You go to Winslow High, right? Anyone there you think deserves a little bit of a scare?"

I blanched, shocked at what he was suggesting. Brian seemed to feel the same way. "Alec, are you seriously suggesting that we attack a fucking school?" He asked angrily.

Alec shrugged, apparently not bothered by the morality of his idea. "We need something big, don't we? Attacking a school would put us on the front page for sure. And in case you've forgotten Brian, we're villains. We're _supposed_ to be nasty people."

"Yeah, except that pulling stupid shit like this is the right way to ending up in the Birdcage." Everyone looked a bit tense as he said that. The Birdcage was the name of the parahuman prison. An impenetrable building that couldn't be broken into or out of, meant to hold the worst of the worst. You don't lock people in there so much as throw them in and forget they ever existed.

Brian sighed in frustration. "When a villain goes after school kids, they lose any and all sympathy from the public. The Protectorate, the PRT, the Wards… They all hound you so much harder. People are far more filling to inform the police about you than before. It's just one nightmare after another."

Lisa stepped in before it turned into a major argument. "Ok, ok. Attacking a school is off the table. We're just brainstorming right now. Nothing's set in stone yet." She turned to me. "How about you? Can you come up with anything?"

"Me?" I was sure I squeaked. I'd forgotten that I'd have a say in all this too. But what could I suggest that would be good enough for the front pages, whilst also not being a threat to anyone. "Well… We uh… We could…" A juvenile idea came to me. Something that I recalled the trio doing to me. "We could vandalise Mayor Christner's house." I suggested.

Wow. I could almost _hear_ the crickets chirping in the silence. I blushed in embarrassment. This was the stupidest thing I could ever think of. Vandalism? What kind of villain vandalises a house? That was for school kids and people who haven't grown up.

"I like it." Alec said after several seconds. "Stick it to the man, have some fun, steal some expensive shit. The mayor's _got_ to have something of value, right?"

"That could actually work." Brian was actually giving it some serious thought. "Hitting something like the mayor's home would definitely be on the news. Maybe break a few other houses nearby, cause some ruckus. We'd be able to get outside in a hurry, meaning that we couldn't get boxed in if we're smart. The only downside is that we won't be making much money from this. I doubt he's got a few thousand dollar stashed in there or something."

"He might if you include items of value." Lisa was also thinking it over. "Besides, the boss _really_ wants us to play decoy that day. He's willing to pay us thirty thousand all together. Along with paying for the equipment and gear we use."

Was she serious? This sponsor was willing to fork out money I hadn't even dreamed of? I mean, I've barely had more than five hundred in my bank account, let alone a thousand. And all for some pointless vandalism?

Whatever he's got planned for Thursday, I _have_ to tell Armsmaster about it.

* * *

The act itself wasn't until next week, leaving me with loads of time to contact Armsmaster, let him know what I found out (whilst stopping Tattletale's power from finding out too), set up some kind of plan, and hopefully arrange it so that the Undersiders could still possibly get away. Or at least I wouldn't begin my hero career with a record. I imagined that Mayor Christner wouldn't be too happy about his house, but sometimes you needed to make sacrifices to capture villains. In the meantime, what was I going to do to keep myself occupied? I couldn't exactly go to school, not with Emma and her posse waiting for me. Maybe it would be easier to just hang out with the Undersiders. See if I could learn anything else from them. That decided, I moved to leave the house and head towards the docks…

And stopped.

There was a battered pick-up truck parked in front of the house next to them. The previous owners had sold it months ago, but it looked like someone had finally bought it. The new owners didn't seem to have much. Just some second-hand furniture loaded precariously in the back. There was only one man outside, unloading the truck by himself. I had a closer look at him.

He didn't seem much to look at. He was certainly tall, about the same height as her dad. And lean too. But whereas Dad was built like a stick or a beanpole, this guy was thicker, built with some muscles. He was lean like an athlete, all hidden power and speed. And he was stronger than he looked, not even grunting as he pulled a bed frame off the back. His face was hidden behind a dark leather hoodie, a red stylised symbol on the back. Underneath it was the hem of a white shirt, hanging slightly over blue weathered jeans.

He was bending over to pick up a cooler when he stopped as though aware that I was spying on him. He turned around to face me, and my heart started beating faster.

His skin was pale and pallor, the colours merging with his icy blue eyes. Dark under shadows plagued his face, and his frown was clearly evident. But behind his eyes, there was… something else. A hunger, a well of rage and hatred. It was like he felt nothing about anything.

He looked dangerous, like Lung or Oni Lee. But Lung was dangerous in that he was larger than me and well-muscled; Oni Lee was dangerous in that he looked like he could very easily stick a knife through your ribs.

This man seemed as though he could kill you very easily and not even give a damn.

I felt herself backing away slowly, in the midst of a panic attack. I still had my pepper spray on hand, but I wasn't entirely sure it would be of any use against him. Maybe I could use the bugs? Distract him with stinging and biting insects? But that would take time. I wasn't expecting to be attacked right outside my own…

"Taylor." I heard Dad call out, as he walked through the front door. "Are you ready to go to…?" He stopped, seeing the man unloading the truck. I turned back to see him standing upright, hand in his pockets and glowering. At the same time, a woman walked out of the other house. She was shorter than him, with short brown hair and the same icy blue eyes. But hers seemed more alive somehow, and made her seem calm compared to the man. She saw the two of them standing outside.

"Hey." She said, moving towards them. "Guess you're the neighbours." She held out a hand to Dad. "Dana Mercer. And this is my brother, Alex."

"Danny Herbert." Dad said, shaking firmly. "This little one is my daughter, Taylor. Nice to have some new faces around here." I wasn't completely paying attention to the conversation. I was too busy watching Alex, who was still staring at us. I noticed that he wasn't blinking, wasn't doing any of the normal things people do when they're just standing there. Dana looked up at him and elbowed him in the side. _That_ got him to react. He looked at her in confusion.

"Alex. Say hi." She ordered. Alex turned back to them, still acting slightly threatening.

"Hey." He said in a gravelly voice. And then he turned back to Dana. "Where do you want me to put the couch?"

"Just in this room here. But wait until I help you out." She said hurriedly. Alex huffed slightly before leaning against the truck. I took careful note of how it dipped slightly where he was leaning. Dana gave them a tired smile. "Sooo… What do you do for a living Danny?"

"Me? I'm a spokesperson for the dock workers. I'm _supposed_ to talk to the mayor's office to try and get the workers more jobs, better pay and things like that. In reality, I keep hearing excuses and have to go and tell the men that more of them have lost their jobs." Dad shook his head sadly. "Despite the mayor's office promising that there would be more jobs for them."

"Really? That's interesting." She pulled out a notebook from her pocket, along with a pen. "So how often does the mayor make promises that he has no intention of keeping? Once a month? Twice a month?"

"I…I'm sorry but are you…?"

"A freelance reporter-slash-blogger. Not officially with any paper, but I tend to mail in anything I find interesting. Moved to Brockton Bay to try and find some better work." She waved a hand at their surroundings. "No offence to anyone, but this place isn't exactly the millionaire's club."

"None taken. I know exactly how you feel." Dad ran a hand through my hair, just like when I was younger. "This one loves to go running to try and get some air, give her some time to think. I just wish that she could do it in a better area. Somewhere where I don't… have to worry." He gave me a sharp look. "Speaking of which, you _really_ need to get to school. Don't want to be late now, do we?"

"No Dad." I replied automatically, feeling guilt at lying yet relief to get out of there. I ran past them towards the bus stop, temporary bag bouncing against my back. I looked back quickly to see Dad and Dana still chatting amicably.

But Alex was watching me closely as I left, his eyes like a hawk.

Fitting, considering that birds eat bugs.

* * *

Alex had gotten most of the furniture all set up by the time Dana had finished interviewing Danny about the dock workers. Luckily, he was so engrossed in answering questions and trying to get something done that he didn't notice that Alex had moved the heavier things all on his own. It also helped that Dana had kept him distracted everytime he moved something. He was just screwing the table together when Dana came back into the house, the smile on her face sliding off. She shook her head ruefully.

"Alex, things would be so much fucking easier if you didn't frighten off everyone you encounter." She admonished him, sitting at the desk he had already assembled. "I saw the way you were watching Taylor. You looked like you were planning on murdering her on the spot."

"Wasn't." Alex grunted. "I just don't trust them. Not good with people."

Dana rolled her eyes." Yeah, not shit you're not. That's why we're trying to change that. Get you more sociable. Or at least not looking like you're three seconds away from killing everything in sight." She sighed and leaned back, looking up at the stained roof. "In the meantime, we need to talk about something."

"What about?" He asked, not even looking up. She opened up her laptop, bringing up the pages she had saved.

"I did some probing into the PRT system, sticking to the public areas. It seems that Glory Girl finally got around to giving them the description of her assailant." She cleared her throat. "New local villain wears a casual outfit of a black hoodie over blue jeans. Face is hidden under a black featureless mask. No other identifying features. If sighted, do not approach. Contact the PRT as soon as possible." She looked at him expectantly. Alex frowned as he saw her expression. It was strange. Usually she would be upset that he attacked someone. But now she was trying to contain some glee. Maybe. He wasn't still sure.

He shrugged and flipped the table over, setting it down without any effort. "Is this the part where you tell me off for defending myself from an overzealous busybody?"

"Actually, this is the part where we come up with your supervillain name."

He stopped, turning to face her slowly. "…My what?" He asked in confusion.

"Your supervillain name. Don't want the local papers to call you something lame like… Hoodie Man or Masked Menace." She stuck out her tongue in disgust. "Some journalists have no sense of style here. They're living in a real-life comic book, and they can't come up with good names if their lives depended on it."

"I'm not a supervillain." Alex said dumbly. Why would she even think that about him? Supervillains… they were crooks with weird names and powers and with grandiose plans of dropping the moon or drowning cities.

He just wanted to keep his sister safe and have people leave him alone.

"I know you're not, Alex. But let's look at the facts. Your first big entry into the world of parahumans was by robbing a bank, beating the shit out of a rising heroine, and then vanishing without a trace." She summed up on her fingers. "It'll be really hard to convince people you're a good guy after all that. Assuming you were even planning on joining the Protectorate." She smirked. "Though given your age, maybe the Wards might be a better fit."

He grunted back at her, still glowering. "I'm _not_ a parahuman."

"You're close enough that I don't think anyone will care."

"Dana." He said sharply. "The bank robbery was a one-time deal. Crimes here, especially with my skills, are going to attract the PRT's notice. Getting their attention will bring in the Protectorates, the Wards, and every other fucking superhero squad in this city. Getting _their_ attention will likely lead them to you. And I doubt they're very friendly to the family of villains." He crossed his arms. "On this planet, there's no massive conspiracy that I need to worry about. No secret projects experimenting on people trying to create weapons of mass destruction. And no one here knows _anything_ about Blacklight, or Redlight, or anything related to me. We're keeping out of their way."

Dana groaned, rolling her eyes at him. "Killjoy. I was actually kinda enjoying having a supervillain for a brother." She sighed. "Fine. Fine. You can go and… I don't know, get a nine-to-five job or something. I'll make you a fake ID again." She turned back to her laptop. "But you'd better hurry with finding that job. Putting down the deposit and getting the furniture hasn't left us with a lot of money."

He waved her off. "Just find me the first job you find, and I'm sure I can adapt. God knows I've got enough people up here. Someone's got to have the skills I need."

"Fine." Dana muttered, typing Danny's words into a document, sorting it out into a story.

But she kept open the page about the parahumans in Brockton Bay. She had a few ideas she wanted to at least save for another time.

* * *

"Thank you. Have a very pleasant day." Alex said automatically, giving a cringe worthy grin in an attempt to smile. He didn't need to see the customer's expression to know that his smile didn't get anywhere close to his eyes, whatever that saying meant. Maybe it meant how he still had a cold look to him, the monster within irritated at this charade. Maybe it meant that it didn't _literally_ reach his eyes (though he was certain that having a smile that took up half your face was creepy too). Whatever it meant, he was the fucking embodiment of it.

Inwardly, he sighed heavily as the next customer approached. Outwardly though, his body was running on autopilot. Over an accumulated century of working on checkouts took over, his body moving through every step without his say-so. Pretty damn useful, if only because he would've butchered everyone here if he had to be conscious of every _fucking_ boring second he spent here.

Maybe Dana had a point about him being a villain.

"Hello, welcome to Tech Mart. How can I help you today?" He heard himself say.

"About fucking time." The customer said angrily. Alex paid attention to him now. He was a larger man, white-skinned, shaved head, and a tattoo on his arm. 'Extreme Endurance Eating'. The hidden call sign of all members of Empire Eighty Eight, a white-supremacist gang led by a Cape. Great. He was at least glad he stuck to his preferred skin colour, even if he _did_ change around the features. He had placed a tattered box on the counter before Alex. "This piece of shit you lot sold me is busted. Was doing my thing when the whole thing crashed. Then it fucking exploded in my face. I want a replacement, the latest fucking model right now."

"We're sorry for your inconvenience, Sir. If you could just let me look at the device, we may be able to help you much faster." He pulled the box towards him, hands feeling the wear and tear to the packaging. Either this guy had crumpled the box recently in a fit of rage, or it was a lot older than he seemed to be implying. A slight cloud of smoke billowed out as he opened the box. The techies in his head informed him that was not a good sign.

The first thing he noticed was that the laptop hadn't so much exploded as been smashed with a sledgehammer. Probably by the bastard before him in a fit of rage. The second thing was that there was glue holding parts of the frame together, the signs of warranty-voiding modding. And the third thing was the date on the inside of the box. This thing was over six years old. And Tech Mart policy stated that warranties on laptops only last for _five_ years.

"I'm terribly sorry sir, but I'm afraid that this device is no longer covered by our refund policies. You see…" He was interrupted as the man grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him nearly over the counter and getting right up in his face. Alex rankled his nose as he took in the smell of bad meat on this guy's breath.

"The fuck did you just say? You motherfuckers trying to cheat me?"

"Of course not Sir." Alex kept saying, even as he fought down the urge to slam this asshole through the counter and the floor. "But I'm afraid that the warranty on this device expired the middle of last year. There are clear signs of tampering and modding, which Tech Mart policy clearly states will void your warranty. And then there is the clear signs of this device being deliberately damaged by a blunt tool. As such, I'm afraid that we can't help you. However, if you are still interested in a _new_ laptop, we have some great deals in store for…" The man grabbed Alex by the head and slammed him against the counter. The customers around them gasped in shock.

"Do you know who you're fucking with?" The man said angrily. "I eat scrawny bastards like you for breakfast. Now you're gonna get me the latest laptop free of charge _and_ a thousand bucks, or me and my boys are going to make you wish that you've never been born."

Ok, _fuck this._

The man was clearly surprised when Alex grabbed him by the arm, pulling him away with ease before smashing his own fist into his face. He tugged him over the counter, sending him crashing against the display set up behind them, before slamming his knee into the creep's stomach. He heard plenty of bones shatter, and the man coughed up blood. Alex punched him once, twice, before grabbing him by the shirt and dragging him to the front of the store. He stopped by the door, and held him close to his face.

"Let me make this absolutely clear, fucker." He growled, grip tightening. " _You_ don't have any clue what _you're_ fucking with. If I ever see you again, I am going to drive my fist through your stomach, before beating you to death with your own spine and intestines." And with that, he tossed the freak out the door. He sailed over the first row of cars before skidding across the carpark, leaving a slight red trail behind him. Alex turned back and strolled to the checkouts, surrounded by silent customers. He tried to smile again. "Just had to eject a threatening customer, that's all. Now did we mention that we're currently offering half off when you buy a second toaster?"

The store was returning to normality rather quickly (maybe dealing with having actual supervillains had made them jaded to these things), but Alex found himself being called to the manager's office. He resisted the urge to growl in frustration. He really didn't need to deal with this shit. He was near his breaking point already. But he kept himself from lashing out, even though his biomass was almost _begging_ to be allowed to rend someone, to rip them limb from limb.

"You called for me Boss?" Alex called out as he entered the manager's office. "If this is about the stand I broke, I'll fix it up pronto for you."

The manager, a pudgy man with oily hair and an obvious comb over named Mr. Drisk, glared at him. "It's not about your fight, though I am _very_ concerned about that. Sit." Alex did as he was asked, hands clenched to stop them from extending claws. Drisk placed a piece of paper dramatically onto the desk before him. "Tell me Mr. Donald. Do you know what this paper is?"

Alex only had to look at it for a second to realise what it was. "My details." He said. Now he was starting to get worried. His body tensed in preparation. Was there something he and Dana missed? Some small detail that had this guy suspicious? Was it time to silence him and try to sneak away?

"Correct, Mr. Donald. Those are the details about you as found in the Brockton Bay systems. Details that, until yesterday, didn't even exist." He folded his arms. "Some of us in the business would call that 'rather suspicious'. So perhaps you'd care to…"

He didn't even get to finish or react before Alex had a hand wrapped around his skull, snapping it and his neck like a twig. He consumed his body quickly, tendrils pushing things off the desk as he dragged the body towards him. He had to know what he had learned, who he had told, what actions he had to prepare for.

To his relief, all Drisk had done was remove him from the store's servers. Compared to what he _could've_ done, firing him was actually a blessing. Going into retail was the stupidest thing he's ever done.

"Hey Don." Another staff member said once he exited the office. "So what did Sam want with you?"

Alex shrugged, trying to hide his glee. "Apparently he didn't appreciate me dealing with that racist cheating scumbag for him. Got handed a notice of resignation and told to get out."

"What? He can't do that. You didn't even make it to payday. There are rules against just letting you go without any pay. We should have a word with him."

"Nah. Don't sweat it. It's not worth the hassle. Between trying to get him to pay and deal with that asshole trying to sue me in court, I'd have probably made ten times my pay in that time. I'm not gonna waste time on either of them." He turned back towards the entrance. "Catch you guys later."

"Yeah. Hope you get something better after this." The guy said, turning back to the shelves he was stocking. Alex just ignored him and walked out. None of them mattered to him. This had been just a temporary solution. Right now, the only thing he was worried about was Dana's reaction to finding out that he had gotten fired. Ah well. He would've gotten kicked out anyway. He just wished he could've grabbed some cash while he was…

"Son of a bitch." He growled. He could've stolen from the safe. Everyone would've gone looking for Drisk, or Don Donald. Both who would've been long gone by the time someone noticed. He was such an idiot.

Around the same time, he noticed that he had company. Four of them, one limping down the road. He walked past a mirrored pane, looking back with it as he went past. It was the Triple-E asshole. And he seemed to have brought a few buddies with him.

He couldn't stop himself from grinning. Even if these fuckers didn't have any cash on them, they'll know where he could get some. All he needed to do was play the role of the idiot victim-to-be. With that said, he headed towards the nearest alley, acting as though he hadn't noticed his shadows and was merely taking a stroll. He heard the sound of quickening steps. Perfect. Those idiots took the bait. He headed towards the very end of the alley, to the solid wall in his way. Behind him, the enclosed walls made their footsteps almost echo. "Hey fuckhead!" The Triple-E shouted angrily. "Time to show you what happens when you fuck with Empire Eighty Eight."

Well. He let them have their moment. Now it was time for some _fun_.

He jumped backwards toward them, flipping around as he did so, so that when he landed the first idiot could see his hungry grin, his red glowing eyes, and his massive claws. He barely had time to scream before Alex sliced his head into chunks and consumed his body.

But the others did. And they did so loudly as he leapt at them, claws trailing blood. He could almost hear them over the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, fragmenting it and sending dust flying.

Goddammit. Not again.

The dust parted as something fast came flying out of it towards him. His coiled biomass allowed him to dodge it, causing the hero to crash fist first into the wall behind him. It practically exploded from the force, cracks forming everywhere. He quickly ate the men he had killed before turning to face his attacker. At the same time, he put on his 'disguise'. The dust parted to reveal Glory Girl again, face scrunched up in rage.

"You've got to be kidding me." He sighed. "You again?"

"You're dead, motherfucker!" She screamed, flying towards him again. He packed some extra biomass into his arm, turned his 'muscles' and 'tendons' into something like dense steel. Even then, when Glory Girl's fist landed right in his palm, he felt the force behind it travel down his arm. But he didn't react. Instead, as soon as he could feel her skin against his own, he quickly jabbed her in the side with open fingers. Not enough to rupture anything, but still enough to bruise an organ and leave her writhing on the ground. He sighed as he stood over her.

"I've already figured out your weakness. I know how to hurt you. What made you think that round 2 is going to go any different from the first time?

"Because of THIS!" She punched at his chest at great speed, her arm a pile driver of pain. But he had already seen her moving. The martial artists and hand-to-hand experts inside of him had already noted where she was aiming for. He doubted she _really_ knew how to throw a punch. Not like the mortals she likely lorded over, who had to worry about someone killing them with only a few punches and who couldn't lift more than half their own weight. Her attacks were slow, easy to read.

So when her fist finally impacted against his chest, he had had plenty of time to both strengthen his defences there _and_ anchor himself securely to the ground. Even so, there was still enough energy to cause the ground he was anchored to to crack loudly and wildly. And her fist _still_ managed to dig itself halfway into his chest.

His biomass crunched down on it as soon as her barrier went down again, breaking every bone in her fingers. She screamed loudly as she tried to pull free, while he used that time to slap her around. Once to shut her down, another to hurt her. She managed to pull free just in time for him to slap her upside the head and then slam her forehead against his knee. Blood flew everywhere, and there was a slight dent to her forehead. She fell to the ground in a heap, puking her guts out.

Really now, he _should_ just let her suffocate on her own vomit. But if he did so, then New Wave might start trying to force him into the open, tap into the full might of the Birdcage. He'd rather avoid all that if possible. He jammed two fingers down her throat and cleared out the puke. Hey, biomass is biomass, no matter where it came from.

Of course, that didn't mean he _liked_ adding puke to his body's stockpile. Wiping his fingers off on her dress, he searched her for a cellphone. Luckily, his stereotyped assumption was right. She _did_ carry it on her person. And all the hacker brains told him exactly how to get past her security code. He just selected the first name on the list, someone named Amy, and sent her a text. His work done, he snapped the phone in half and threw the pieces at her, jumping over the roof to escape.

Maybe this defeat will teach her to mess with him.

* * *

Dana was already waiting by the door when Alex arrived, arms folded and with a heavy expression. The kind of expression most men didn't want from a woman. Alex didn't flinch as he saw her, but he did look away in embarrassment.

"Uh… yeah." He said nervously. "That job I took? The one at Tech Mart? Didn't really work out."

"No shit it didn't." She said testily, turning back to her laptop. She opened up the page she had set up an alert for, reading it aloud for him to hear. "'Saw an uber badass today at Tech Mart. Triple-E threat tried to intimidate him. Dude kicked his ass and threw him out. Sucks that he got fired for not letting the freaks and assholes kick him around. We need more folks like Don.'" She turned back long enough to give him a look. "You got fired?"

He didn't even blink. "Drisk found out that my ID was fake. Had to silence him. He already filed the paperwork." He reached into his jacket – his biomass – and tossed out several wads of cash. She quickly skimmed through one, seeing mostly twenties and fifties. "Found another revenue though. That asshole and his friends tried to jump me later. Only fair that they pay up."

"And Glory Girl?" She asked. That finally got a reaction from him. He blinked in surprise. It was surprisingly human, mostly because he didn't _do_ things like that.

"You've already heard about it?" He asked.

" _Everyone's_ heard about it. You turned one of the toughest teen heroes into something kids poke with a stick. Apparently her sister, Amy, had to call her family to help carry her home."

"It was her own fault. She jumped me. Wanted revenge. Stupid really."

She smirked. "Pot calling the kettle black anyone?" She took a deep breath and counted the money again. This was enough to keep her fed for another week or two. But she still sighed. "Alex, this isn't going to work."

"What isn't?"

"You having a job. I know we keep trying to fool ourselves, but you're not human. You're a… A living murder machine with a massive chip in your shoulder. If something's making you upset, you kill it. Brutally. And I know that's your thing, but the real world doesn't work like that." She tapped the money. "We need something more regular than some scumbag pisses you off, you eat him, and then you learn about some hidden stash."

He frowned at her. "Are you trying to convince me to be a supervillain again?"

She hesitated. Was she? Yeah, it sounded cool, having a real supervillain for a brother. But he was trying to change, trying to fit in. It'd be wrong for her to set him back just so she could have something more exciting to think about than the fact that he could destroy entire cities by himself.

But could he really be anything other than a weapon? A monster?

"I… I'm just thinking that retail's not for you. Maybe you'd be better with a job that's late at night. Manual labor. Something that doesn't deal with many people." She sighed, and stood up. "I'm gonna take a nap. When I wake up, I'll see about finding you something else. In the meantime, just… Just don't kill anyone that isn't a scumbag."

She closed the door behind her, and Alex was left to mope around.

She was right, of course. The rest of the day he kept telling himself how stupid it was to try and deal with customers. He didn't have people skills, he had people- _eating_ skills. Good for fighting, not so much for when someone's upset because they're being charge five bucks more than they were expecting. Maybe he could take a midnight shift. Putting stock on shelves, cleaning up buildings, carving meat with his claws.

But a primal part of him enjoyed that 'fight' with Glory Girl. It wanted to face someone better, someone who actually knew how to fight beyond 'hit the enemy as hard as you can'. Someone who could actually hurt him. And besides, the next official payday wouldn't be for until next week. He'd rather have more cash for Dana _now_. Maybe it might make her forgive him.

So, legal work was out. Anything that would have to wait for official channels to cough up some cash. So what else did that leave? Villainy? Robbing places, mugging people, holding the world for ransom?

Actually, that didn't sound like a bad career choice for him. What better place for a living weapon than somewhere where he'd get to fight stronger people.

His eyes turned to the fancier houses in Brockton Bay, and a plan started coming together.

* * *

 **And that's the first chapter. As you can already figure, third person is Alex/Everyone else, while first person is Taylor. We're probably going to see things more from Alex's point than Taylor, but she can help too.**

 **Now, there are several things I want to talk about (sorry if I bore anyone). There will be spoilers about Worm, so anyone not interested in spoilers should probably just skip this whole section. We'll give you time.**

… **Alright then. Everyone who's sticking around, listen up.**

 **First off, Alex is definitely going to be one of the more dangerous people in this story. See, most capes in the Worm universe are glass cannons. They can dish out a lot of power with their abilities, but anything that can hurt or kill a regular person is just as effective against parahumans. Alex, however, has insane durability and incredible strength. He can survive a lot of punishment as long as he has biomass, and he can hit hard enough to kill people or turn them into a red mist. Secondly, he's smarter than he looks. He's got all the memories he's consumed at his disposal, and base Alex was already a scientist. A lot of things that can be figured without powers, he could probably figure them out too.**

 **Now comes the questions. See, there's a lot about characters and their powers on the site, but not enough for what I'm working on. Some things I need to make guesses at. Some I'm probably going to be horribly wrong about. That's where you guys come in. I'll be leaving questions here that are things I need to know to help with my story. They're all pretty much about how Alex's biology interacts with powers.**

 **We'll start with my biggest question. The Slaughterhouse Nine. We all figure that Alex could kill them easily. Jack Slash's power is practically useless against Alex, and he can carve him up like a prime leg of lamb. Jack's other ability to detect shard powers is useless on Alex since he doesn't have an active shard, and Alex doesn't listen enough for his words to affect him. Shatterbird, Bonesaw, Mannequin, Burnscar, Cherish, Hatchet Face… They'll all die just as easily. My question is about Crawler and Siberian. Now, Alex** _ **could**_ **theoretically take out Siberian if he knew that she was a projection and used some kind of sonic attack to disrupt his ability to think. But like I said, that works on his finding out somehow. Crawler though… Well, his power is that anything that injures him gets healed over and he becomes immune to it. That might also work on viruses, even ones as strong as Alex. Now, how would you guys see Alex taking either of them down, but mostly Crawler?**

 **Second question is about Laserdream and New Wave. They have the ability to shoot lasers. Lasers are basically lethal rays of light. Do you guys think that if someone were prepared with a mirror, they could reflect the lasers away?**

 **Third, do you want to see Alex stay to help fight Leviathan, or leave to get the fuck out with Dana?**

 **That's all for now. I hope you guys give some great answers. I'll name drop whoever I think has the best idea. Also, constructive criticism is good. Let me know if there's something that bugs you.**


	2. Step 2 - Make a Big Impression

**Hi there again. First off, I'd just like to thank everyone who sent a review. Your contributions helped out so much, and you all offered so many different ideas. Seeing as this story has become really popular for just one chapter, and it's Christmas, I've decided to release a new chapter. For those of you suggesting that Alex kill Leviathan, I'm afraid that there's still gonna be some limitations in the story. Leviathan is insanely tough, even by Endbringer standards. According to Word of God, he's so tough that he breaks the laws of physics. Still, Alex** _ **is**_ **going to do a lot of damage against him. I've already figured out how. As for borrowing some of Leviathan's flesh to improve himself, the Endbringers are apparently made of silicon, a metalloid in the same family as carbon (not to mistaken for** _ **silicone**_ **, aka that stuff they use for breast implants, contact lenses and other stuff). I'm still not sure if Alex could consume it, but even if he can it doesn't change the fact that an Endbringer would be made up of a lot more of it than Alex would be. At best, Behemoth and the Simurgh are pretty much walking fighting buffets for Alex. At worst, he can't eat them. Will leave that open for discussion for now.**

 **Jrbless, you've clearly put a lot of thought into this for me. Thanks to you, I've decided to change how a fight plays out somewhat in this chapter. As for healing, I could see Alex having the ability to agitate the body's own healing. He would be kinda like a new foreman coming in and telling construction workers to build faster. Not too sure about how effective sonic attacks might be. He might be able to come up with a defense for that, and the two you suggested are still flesh and blood. A good solid punch would lay them low.**

 **Also a thank you to ZeroLink21. You made some good points. As for the shards and capes… Well, that would be telling.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Step 2 – Make a Big Impression**

Victoria hissed as pain thrashed through her arm. Instinctively, she pulled away, making it hurt even more.

"Stop moving already." Her sister, Amy, said testily. She held a hand against her arm. The pain faded away, replaced by several sensations. Warm, cold, tingly, rough… "I need to stay in contact with your skin to heal you, _remember?_ "

"It hurts." She was fully aware how childish she sounded at that moment.

"And whose fault is that? You just _had_ to go and rush the guy who kicked your ass the last time. What were you thinking?"

"Hit him hard and fast. Fuck him up before he could do anything."

"Instead, we're having to pay for the wall and pavement you broke, I'm here healing you _yet again_ , and he gets to walk away _yet again_." Amy sighed. "I though Mom made it clear; leave him to the Protectorate."

Victoria snorted. "He's only committed one crime right now. Compared to dealing with the ABB, the Triple-E, catching the Undersiders, he's barely a blip on their radar. They're not gonna pay too much attention to him. Besides, I owe him one. I _need_ it."

Amy gave her a strange look. "Vic, you really think that him beating you has made you less awesome? He got…" She stopped to think. "…Lucky. He somehow managed to figure out your weakness. Things like that happen. Do you think Alexandria became less amazing when the Siberian managed to injure her?"

"She became more _vulnerable_." Victoria said, emphasising it. "She wasn't considered completely invincible, something that couldn't be stopped. People stopped being as afraid of her anymore." She looked away, face burning with shame. "I was considered the strongest heroine in the city. Now everyone's seen me beaten. No one's going to take me seriously anymore. They'll _always_ bring this up, every. Fucking. Time." She slammed a hand down on the table beside them, turning it into splinters. "But if I bring this creep down, if I fuck him over and toss him in a cell; no one's gonna insult me anymore."

Amy frowned at her, worry and concern etched onto her face. She pulled her hand away, all of Victoria's injuries healed. Physically, she felt as good as ever. Mentally however? She just couldn't let this go. She was worrying over it like a dog with a bone. Amy shook her head sadly. "Vic, I know that this is important to you and all that. But he's beaten you twice now. A lot of these injuries could've been fatal. I'm just worried that if you go up against him again, you might end up injured beyond even _my_ ability to heal."

"Bull. You don't have an upper limit on what you can or can't heal."

"Actually, I do. I can't do anything if you're _dead_." She pulled her into a hug, and Victoria felt drips of water running down her shoulder. Tears. She made Amy cry. "I don't want to lose you because you're being so stubborn. Just please… Let someone else bring him in. We can find some other way to get back in the game."

Victoria felt some shame then. She had been so focused on how much she _hated_ this guy, that she never stopped to consider how Amy felt. How she would've felt to be called in to heal her own invincible sister. How as soon as she did so, Victoria was back out there and sent back to her almost as bad. Yes, she still burned with the desire for revenge; to show this guy that she could beat him, like how Battery managed to bring down Mad Cap.

But could she really force Amy to have to identify her corpse? Could she force _anyone_ in her family to do so?

"…"She sighed. "Fine. I'll leave him alone." For now. But as soon as the PRT had something on him, some weakness or flaw she could exploit, she was going out there. And she was going to wear him down until she could bring him in. Amy gave her a sad smile, and pulled her into a hug. A warm feeling blossomed within her.

"Thank you. I don't know how I'd handle without having to deal with your pigheadedness." Amy said.

* * *

I was in a bad mood right now. The kind where you want to throw something expensive, or yell at the world, or just glower at everyone in range. The reason for my bad mood?

My attempt at informing Armsmaster about the Undersiders' plans went badly.

In hindsight, _maybe_ I could've explained myself better. I was forced to remain vague about it because I was worried about Tattletale's powers plucking my words out of thin air and reveal that I'm a mole. I was so worried that I thought that even so much as explaining how they worked would've given the game away. But Armsmaster wasn't happy with my attempts to try and explain without actually saying anything. Not that he had been happy with me in the first place; it turned out that Lung nearly died during captivity. I had used some highly dangerous and poisonous insects during my attack, and his healing factor had somehow shut down long enough that parts of his body (like his privates) had actually rotted off. Because Armsmaster said that he alone had captured him, the PRT suspected him for what happened. They had removed him from leader of the Brockton Bay Protectorate, confiscated his armour and weapons, and searched every last piece. On top of that, he probably had to admit that he had in fact found Lung already dealt with. The goodwill I earned that night for giving him all the credit dried up like a well in a drought. He wasn't interested in my attempt to try and drag their leader out into the open; either I help him bring in the Undersiders right now, or he wasn't going to lift a finger to help me.

I stopped short of telling him where he could stick his halberd, and decided to bring the leader in by myself. Maybe Miss Militia would be more appreciative of my work.

Still, that didn't mean that putting up with his attitude didn't suck.

There was a weak thump against my shoulder. "Quit moping around, Taylor." Lisa said warmly. "We're about to have some fun, enjoy a good time. Not every day we get to rough up some rich guy's house."

That was another thing. Given how Armsmaster outright said that two of the Undersiders were murderers, the idea that they were all for some petty vandalism seemed a bit strange. When I thought of supervillains, I always imagined there'd be more heists and stuff. Not childish stuff like this. But I forced myself to smile. If Lisa saw I was still mopey, she'd probably start wondering why. And then her power might inform her about how I had an argument with a hero. And that would be the end of everything.

"Just thinking about what kind of security his place might have." I said, trying to misdirect her. "We can't be the first capes to have tried robbing him.

Lisa nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Brian's gonna give me hell if I miss an alarm or something before we're ready." She looked at Mayor Christner's fancy mansion, and concentrated deeply. "Let's see… several motion detectors set up on the lawn. Central alarm linked to the PRT. Five tumbler keyholes on all doors. He's either really paranoid, or he's been robbed before."

"Can you crack them?" I asked. Part of me hoped she couldn't, but I wasn't betting against her. If she had considered robbing a bank as her first choice, then robbing a mansion would be even easier.

"Please. I could crack them _without_ my power." She looked at her watch. "There. Now everyone in the local area should be at work, and the gardeners should be finished. Time to move." She opened the door and quickly exited the van, leaving me to open the back and bring out my bugs. Thousands of them, far more than I'd expect to need on a job like this.

But this was meant to be more than just a simple robbery.

Behind our van, Grue, Regent, and Bitch were already heading towards the house. One of Bitch's dogs was by her side, already nearly as big as me. The five of us crept towards the house stealthily, avoiding the sensors thanks to Tattletale. Before too long – though it felt far longer to me – we were at the back door. Tattle got out her picks and got to work.

Barely a second later, the door was open. I blinked at the sheer ease she managed to work.

"I'm impressed Tattle." Regent said. "That was fast even for you."

"That wasn't me." She explained, sounding nervous. "Someone else has already broken in."

That made Grue react. The darkness around him billowed more. "What'd you say?" He said, his voice distorted.

"Someone else has already broken in." She repeated. She leaned in to look closely at the keyhole. "Didn't even force the lock. Maybe had a copy of the key or something close to it."

We were silent for a moment. "Anyone else think it could be our mysterious bank thief?" Regent asked. Tattletale actually seemed to mull it over.

"Could be." She admitted. "But the odds that we'd both go after the same target twice? Can't be coincidence. Maybe he's getting set against us."

I thought maybe I could use this." Maybe the boss hired him too." I suggested.

"Maybe. But why not tell us? Why set us both on the same job? I could accept it if this was something big like robbing the PRT, but it's actually pretty small-time. One of us would've been enough for this place." She pushed the door open enough for us to slip inside. "Everyone stick together. All my powers are telling me is that this guy is dangerous. And he's the kind of person who attacks first."

Well, that's cheerful. This was supposed to be a quiet mission until we unleash the fireworks, and we could already end up dead from facing the wrong person. And part of me was scared. If Regent was right and this _was_ the bank thief, then we're going up against someone who found a way round Glory Girl's defences. Someone like that could turn me into salsa from a love tap.

I sent my bugs in ahead of us, all of them scurrying and flying through the different rooms. All of them were clear of anyone, just valuable things and signs of wealth. But as they approached the master bedroom, they encountered something different. Their senses picked out the folds of clothing, shoes, a curved surface…

Right before they vanished from my senses completely.

I held up a hand, forcing everyone to stop before I pointed at the bedroom. Grue nodded before he filled it to the brim with darkness, stepping inside to investigate and capture. The rest of us waited outside for him to return.

The darkness faded, right at the same time that Grue went flying bodily into the wall. He bounced off just as someone else walked out.

He was pretty tall, almost seven feet tall. His arms and legs were elongated, longer than any normal human being would've had. He was dressed in casual clothing, a black hoodie over black jeans, his shoes and gloves black too. His mask was featureless, just a black curved surface that didn't even reflect our faces back at us. On a whim, I sent a few flies to land on him. The areas they landed blurred slightly before the bugs vanished.

"Take your friend and leave." The man ordered, his voice unnaturally deep. "I was here first; I get what's in here. You try to steal my loot, I'll break the lot of you in two." He cracked his hand menacingly, his intention clear.

Bitch moved forward to shout at him – or attack – but Tattletale held her back. She glared at her, but Tattle was already pushing past. "Now hold on a moment.' She said, hands held in full view. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement here. No need for things to get violent." She gave him a disarming smile.

He didn't change his stance. "I'm perfectly willing to get violent if you don't get the fuck out of here right now."

"How much do you think you'll even make from robbing this place? A hundred? Three hundred?"

"From what I've found, three hundred and eighty seven dollars. No way I'm sharing."

"What if I told you that you could earn far more than that?" The man glared at her, but he lowered his hands. He stood more upright.

"Alright. You've got my attention. Now tell me how I can make even more money."

Tattletale relaxed a bit, though I wasn't sure _I_ could. He took down Grue with ease. Grue should've been able to surprise him inside the darkness, yet _he_ was the one that got jumped. "I'll make it simple and quick. Our employer is willing to pay our group quite a sum to cause enough trouble here to get on the front page. _Our_ plan was to rob Mayor's Christner's house, vandalise it, then beat as many of the people who come here before high-tailing it out of there. Obviously that plan goes out the window if we can't get inside the house. But if you work _with_ us, not only can we complete our mission, but I'm certain that our employer would be willing to split the payoff with you too."

"…How much?" He asked. I got the feeling that the money was all he really cared about. If we didn't offer enough, we'd likely be leaving in pieces.

Tattletale didn't even blink. "Five thousand. Each."

The man relaxed even more. "Deal." He tilted his head towards the bedroom. "I got the safe door open before you lot surprised me. I'm keeping what's in there. You can have your pick of everything else."

"Deal." Satisfied, the man walked into the bedroom again. We quickly heard the sound of bedding getting shredded, wood being shattered, walls, breaking. Regent and I started shaking Grue awake. He woke up rather quickly.

"Wh… What the…?" He mumbled, arms waving wildly. "What the fuck?"

Easy." I said. "The guy who's already robbing this place took you down, but Tattletale got him to back down by offering a part of our pay." A whole sixth of it. Even though I wasn't gonna touch any of it, that seemed like a lot to stop him from killing us. Grue sighed in resignation.

"The boss isn't going to be happy about this." He said. Just then, there was a loud wrenching sound. I peeked inside the bedroom. The furniture was nothing more than woodchips. The clothes were in tatters. Wires were sparking as they poked through large holes in the walls. On the other side of the room, leading towards the next room, was a man-sized hole. Water pipes spluttered water onto the floor.

What I noticed the most though was the fact that the large safe in the room looked like it had been shredded by a very large cat. Slashed into ribbons.

"I think he'll just have to suck it up and deal with it.' I said in a small voice. In only a couple of minutes, this guy did more damage than even all of Bitch's dogs combined. If this guy came up to me demanding pay, I'd give him everything in a heartbeat. I'd imagine that our boss wouldn't be any different.

Tattletale shook her head. "Besides, it's a share of what he'd be paying us anyway. From his point, he's not paying anything more." She had led him into the living room, where Regent and Bitch were grabbing as many small expensive things as they could carry and loading it into a bag attached to the dog. Brutus, I think she called him.

"From _our_ point of view however, we're paying this guy to _not_ kill us all in a microsecond." Regent said, stuffing a couple of DVDs down his shirt. He looked sidelong at the man, who was looking at a jewellery box before shoving the whole thing down his hoodie. There wasn't even a bulge where it had gone. "You know, I'm really starting to think this is definitely the guy who robbed the bank."

"He is." Tattletale said. Without a way to actually carry the TV, she had to settle for driving a lamp through the front of it. She then tossed the lamp into a set of fine scotch glasses. "But my powers can't tell me how he did it, aside from his enhanced strength."

"I thought they didn't find any sign of tampering with the door."

"They didn't." She replied ominously. Barely a second later, he entered the room again, arms full of various items. He dumped it all on the ground before them, stomping back down the hall. I heard the carpet squelch under his feet. Part of me wondered what else he had wrecked in the time we had been talking. There was the sound of wood breaking, and then the room echoed with crashing metal. It sounded as though he was going to be thorough with his vandalism. I knelt down to look at the variety of things he had given us. There were expensive watches, shattered fine china, old jewellery, obstinate gold statues… Probably worth something to the right buyer, whoever they might've been.

Brian nodded to Bitch. "Get that stuff loaded." He had to shout to be heard over the sound of the man working. Bitch glowered at him, but started shoving bits and pieces into the bag. Behind her, Regent and Tattletale were also grabbing more items, tossing them in. In the meantime, I set my bug to attack the kitchen. They couldn't do much beyond burrowing their way into the food, but it had to look juvenile anyway. She ignored the deep groaning sounds coming from the next room.

Until Tattletale looked up in shock. "Duck!" She screamed, diving for the floor. The rest of us didn't know what was happening, but we'd be stupid to ignore her. We all fell down around the same time.

Barely a second later, the wall was blasted open as something big crashed through. Plaster fell all over us, wood splinters rained down around us, and anything attached to the walls were turned into scrap. The thing sailed through the other wall, smashing again and again until bright light was shining down on us. We stayed like that for a few more seconds before gingerly getting back up. I looked around wildly, certain that something had gone wrong. In the hole to my right, the man was stepping back in, a trail of scrap metal left behind him. To my left, the house had opened up to the outside.

On the lawn before us, half crumpled from the impact, was a very fancy car. Or what was left of it.

"Holy fucking shit." Regent breathed. I agreed with him. If we hadn't moved when we did, that would've been us. Grue stumbled out from under some plaster and stomped towards the psycho, darkness billowing wildly. He was only stopped by Tattletale tugging on his arm, though it almost didn't.

"Don't." She pleaded. "My power is _definitely_ telling me that he's too tough for you to beat. Let's just grab what's left and get ready for the PRT." He glowered at her. "Please."

Grue sighed. "Fine." He said tightly. "We're out of here." He said to us. I noticed he didn't bother to inform our 'ally'.

No one argued. We just walked through the new hole and stood out on the lawn. Already I could see a PRT van heading up the road to our area. Guess someone noticed the destruction we were doing.

There was a loud thump next to me. I jumped and turned to see the Hooded Man standing by my side. I felt a strong dislike for him right now. Along with fear.

"So I guess we're on to step three?" He asked us, completely casual. Hell, he almost sounded excited. "So are we going for killing blows or…?"

"No killing." Grue said firmly. "We're doing this to get attention. Leaving bodies gets us the _wrong_ kind of attention." He glared at the guy. I could _feel_ him glaring through his mask. "And if you're going to throw something like that again, give us some fucking notice first."

The Hooded Man turned to look at him. "But that would defeat the point of attacking." He said, as though it was so completely obvious.

"Dude, you're lifting something big to throw it at people. They're gonna notice it anyway." Regent said, shrugging. "Might as well not kill us by surprise." The man just stared at him. "Think of it this way; if we die, you don't get to see any of the money."

"If _any_ of us die, you don't see shit." Grue added.

The man nodded. "Alright then. Try not to get in my way. Babying you lot only gets harder if you make things difficult."

And with that said, we turned back to the PRT riding to do battle with us.

* * *

Alex had to admit, these kids _might've_ had a point in being upset that he tossed the car without warning them. But he _really_ wanted to get rid of it. Things like that, things like people having multiples of the same thing, kinda pissed him off. People out there were starving and barely eking out a living, and here were some assholes who had enough money to buy a second car, or house, or computer when one is more than enough.

He wasn't against having a lot of money. He was just against using it on stupid and unnecessary things.

Of course, the other reason he had done it was so that some tendrils could sneak in and grab some hairs during the chaos. He had quickly sorted through the DNA samples while he had worked, identifying key features and trying to link them to a name and appearance.

He managed to quickly remove the Christner family's DNA. Over 30, Mayor Christner. Well-built athletic genes, Rory Christner. Female under 20, Kyla Christner. Older female, Ms. Christner. He then focused on the unknown samples he had taken. First off was a tall, African-American man. Body frame leans towards muscular. Most likely the motorcyclist. Grue, they called him.

Next up was female. Stocky, hardened, square features. Blond hair. Hellhound. Though he heard them call her Bitch. Likely the name she chose for herself if she hadn't reacted to such an insulting name.

Then there was another male. Black hair, lean body. He didn't need to go further to identify him as the renaissance kid.

Female. Dark blond. Trace coding for freckles. Shorter than the others. The talkative one.

He stopped though when he came to the last member. Six foot, age 15. Dark brown hair, lean slim body. Trouble with vision, likely needs glasses. The girl with the bugs, it seemed.

Funny how that's also the exact description he'd use for Taylor Herbert.

"Tattletale." Grue said tersely. "Have I mentioned how much I fucking hate you sometimes?"

Tattletale rolled her eyes, trying to hide her nervousness. "So I had to make a couple of assumptions. It happens, and sometimes I'm wrong. Sue me."

They were probably referring to the seemingly large number of enemies heading towards them. There were two PRT trucks leading the charge, with a few fliers above them. In the lead was Aegis, the leader of the Wards. Powers; Adaptability and healing. Not as powerful as his own, but the kid wasn't going down easily. Has slight super strength; only to the upper limit of human body's potential. Easily outclassed by his own.

To his left was a young lady wearing spandex with a red arrow pointing down and to the right. Laserdream of New Wave. Has the same laser and shield powers as the rest of her family, though with stronger beams and weaker shields. Probably here about his victory over Glory Girl.

The PRT trucks have the capacity for at least ten to fourteen soldiers. That gives them up to twenty eight soldiers or capes without flight. Easy enough to overwhelm and deal with.

Honestly, he didn't know what Grue was complaining about.

"I say we run for it." Grue was saying. "We smashed the place up, we got their attention. This has got to be close to front page stuff as it is."

"We stay and fight." Bitch barked. She was tensed up, ready to kill or maim. He could feel something similar to respect for her. "We can take them."

"I agree." Alex said, walking towards the car. He picked it up with ease, holding it over his head. "You pansies can run if you want to. But I expect my money ready for me when I find you." And he took off at a run.

He was obviously moving faster than the heroes expected. Laserdream fired several beams, but he easily swerved around them despite his load. When he was close enough, he jumped into the air and tossed the car at one of the trucks, spinning round so that his momentum launched him towards the fliers. There wasn't enough time for anyone to dodge. The truck crunched against the car before flipping beautifully and skidding down the road, while the other swerved to try and avoid it. He crashed into Laserdream, his fists slamming into her shield. It fractured under his dual blow, the force pushing her downwards. They crashed into the truck, pushing it further along and buckling the back. Laserdream fired a blast point blank, searing a hole into his chest. The force pushed him back, and he used that to try and escape the blast. Luckily, his reaction time was better than hers. He jumped overhead in time to intercept Aegis' fist. It forced him back to terra firma, but he simply crushed his hand and slammed him into the ground. Laserdream flew around him, firing a staccato of blasts at him. He got moving, keeping a few steps ahead of her with ease.

"Victoria's gonna enjoy seeing you in a cell, bastard." She shouted at him. Guess he was right. This wasn't about justice. This was about revenge. He turned to see that the other PRT truck had managed to get by, heading towards the other villains. Well, that was their problem now. Though he might step in if things got boring enough down here.

He took his run back towards Aegis, who was climbing out of the crater they made. Alex formed a shield from an arm, just long enough to slam him with. Aegis went flying, and he jumped up to knee him in the chin. He then slammed both hands against his chest, feeling it cave in as he went crashing back to earth. Well, that was hopefully him dealt with. He could always hit harder if need be. Now he just needed to deal with the bimbo.

Perhaps now might be a good time to use her as a testing ground.

He formed a shield again, but this time his biomass became reflective. Assuming that these lasers followed _some_ laws of physics, they could potentially be bounced back. The beam struck him head on, the biomass before him heating up. But a couple of beams _did_ sort of reflect away, striking uselessly against the ground or sky. Good, but room for improvement. He jumped high over her, healing the damage as he flew. When he landed, the shield was practically a mirror. It reflected everything with incredible clarity. When Laserdream fired a blast, he blocked her beam again. But most of the energy was simply transferred into him instead of bouncing back.

Screw this then.

He dashed towards her through the laser and shattered her shield under a flurry of blows, his fist impacting against her stomach. She coughed loudly as he felt her ribs bend under his blow. She fell to the ground, holding her stomach as she vomited violently. Two heroes down already. And aside from a slight loss of biomass, he hadn't suffered any real damage. If this is what this world had for heroes it was no wonder that villains were steadily taking over. He glanced at the PRT truck nearby, saw the officers crawling away. He slammed his hands together, the shockwave slamming them against the truck. They all fell over in a heap. Well, that was disappointing. Guess the others got all the fun. He looked at their fight, and his eyes magnified.

He actually blinked as he saw the heroes they were fighting. Clockblocker, Vista, Kid Win, Shadow Stalker, Gallant, some new hero he didn't recognise. How did some crusty politician manage to get the entire Wards team responding to a B&E? There had to be something more at work here. But as they made clear before, if this team didn't make it out, he wouldn't get paid.

Best to think things over later.

He left the unconscious or wounded PRT soldiers behind him, his feet eating up the road as he ran towards the fighting. As he did so, he mentally ran over what they were capable of. Clockblocker had bullshit powers over time, forcing anything he touched to come to a complete time stop. Nothing could happen to them, but they couldn't react to anything either. Time passed by instantaneously for them. He needed to take him out at range, before he saw it or him coming.

Vista had powers over spatial manipulation. She could stretch out a building like taffy, or pinch a road together and cross it in an instant. No offensive capability though. It was simply a matter of getting to her. She would a negligible irritant at most. Save her for last, or it she got on his nerves.

Kid Win. Tinker. Make devices that would be considered science-fiction. Likely to have multiple tricks he needed to watch out for. Nothing without his tech. Easy enough to avoid. Could use him as a benchmark for his durability.

Gallant. Only power is concussive balls of pure emotion. Can affect their target as well. Threat: Low.

Shadow Stalker. Archery and shadow state. Can become intangible, move quicker and go through solid objects. Probably gonna be a bitch to get a hand on. Likely easily beaten once he's grabbed her. He'll need to focus on her at some point. Likely after Clockblocker and Kid Win.

That just left the last member of the team. Someone he hadn't found records of before. An unknown, though judging by his muscle mass, some form of brute force. Best to observe for a bit before getting into a slugging match with him. As he stopped on top of the small hill the house had been built on, he slammed his hand into the ground. The surface bulged where his tendril moved, erupting underneath Clockblocker and throwing him into the air. It moved back towards him, still active. He turned to see a cloud of darkness covering the unknown hero, Grue and Shadow Stalker nowhere in sight. Regent was walking towards Kid Win, waving his arm around at the same time Win seemed to suffer a seizure. Tattletale was crouched behind some rubble, watching the others carefully. Her gaze turned towards him. He ignored her. Bitch was busy going after Vista and Gallant, driving them both back. But Vista helped Gallant reach Kid Win's blasters, allowing him to force her back with repeated blasts. He also fired an orb at Regent, knocking him down and making him break out into hysterical laughter. Enough to keep him out of breath, and out of the fight. Kid Win used that time to get away on his hover board, tapping away as something started materialising. Taylor was busy throwing bugs at everyone, letting them swarm and bite. Just then, Grue stepped out of his darkness. A bolt was buried in his arm, and another in his back. Shadow Stalker jumped out of the shadows, and Alex tossed a small rock at her head. It cracked against her shoulder, forcing her to drop her crossbow. Grue turned around and started attacking her, both of them going through martial motions in an attempt to win. Grue was forced back as Shadow Stalker drove an elbow into his ribs, before then grabbing his injured arm and slamming her palm against his elbow. He managed to twist out of it at the last second, before slamming his helmet against hers. A few quick jabs to the stomach forced her back.

Well, now was a good time as ever.

Shadow Stalker barely had time to react as he landed before he slammed her against the ground, dirt flying everywhere on impact. He then tossed her against the house before jumping towards Vista. She spotted him coming and stretched out the ground, causing him to land at least three metres short of her. At the same time, Kid Win had managed to construct his cannon. A flamethrower setting dealt with Taylor's bugs, and he was keeping Bitch and her animals on the defensive. He saw Alex approaching Vista, and turned his blasts towards him. They were blocked by his shield, his body weathering the concussive force with ease. He then decided to switch to a stronger blast, powerful enough to crack his shield. Alex dashed forward, and kicked Vista in the side. She went flying, ribs cracked. Then he marched towards Kid Win, blocking his blasts with every shot.

Come on. This can't be all he had.

He grunted as another powerful shot cracked his healed shield again. A second one shattered it, blasting through to force him head over heels. As he landed, he dashed forward, two shields forming from his hands. Kid Win wisely jumped off as Alex slammed into it, breaking it apart on impact. Kid Win rolled in time for Alex to land next to him, a palm strike to the forehead. He looked up to assess the damage.

Clockblocker was down, swarmed by bugs. Kid Win, Shadow Stalker, and Vista were down by his hands. Gallant was being shaken by one of the dogs. The unknown was lying unconscious on the ground.

Grue was panting near him. "Alright. We've done _everything_ we were expected to do. Let's get the hell out of here before anyone else shows up."

Tattletale nodded. "Agreed. This is probably more than enough." She looked at Alex with an unknown expression. "I was expecting us to beat maybe one or two before escaping with them hot on our heels. I never thought we'd end up creaming them like that." She gave him a grin. "Guess we should thank you for helping out."

He just folded his arms. "Just tell me where I can get my cash."

"Blunt and to the point. Right then. It'll take our employer a few days to get together the money, but I'll leave a message for you under the PRT bulletin. How does that sound to you?"

"Adequate. But if you attempt to cheat me…"

"I won't." Something in her voice told him that she would never consider it.

But that didn't mean he had to believe her.

"Whatever." He grunted, jumping away. He ran for the cover of the city, where he easily shifted into someone else. After a few more turns he shifted again, becoming someone completely different. He did that three more times before changing back to Alex Mercer.

His insides writhed with stolen loot.

* * *

Armsmaster looked at the sorry group of heroes before him in silent frustration. Though Mayor Christner's home was a low-level problem, barely worth the PRT response, the bug heroine's info gave him a good reason to send a couple members of the Wards with them. When an anonymous call came in informing them about the Masked Man's presence, Director Piggot had ordered several others to join them. All in all, a team numerous enough to be able to handle almost anything that was thrown at them. Add in Laserdream joining in too, and the Undersiders _should've_ been taken down through sheer numbers, every last one of them now in a cell.

Instead, they all got away, there was _significant_ property damage, and Piggot was now chewing out every last one of the Wards.

"…Utterly disgraceful." She said, her fury hidden behind steel. "Your job is to fight and stop the various villains that roam our fair city, arresting them when possible and scaring them off when not. _My_ job is to make sure that this program receives the funding it needs, which requires people to feel confident about us and our work." She gave them all a good solid glare. "Tell me; how exactly is our entire junior team being taken out by a group of Class C villains going to make us look 'good'?"

Most of the Wards looked at their feet. The rest looked to the side. None answered her, until Aegis stepped forward. He was still somewhat limping, even though all his injuries had been healed by Panacea. She was currently sitting near Laserdream, holding her hand.

"We underestimated them, ma'am." He said somberly. "Especially the Masked Man…"

"No shit you underestimated him. Everyone's underestimated him since he showed up. Glory Girl certainly did when she first faced him. And then she did so again when she went for a rematch." Piggot looked at the members of New Wave, who were blushing in embarrassment over their teammate's defeat. Piggot turned back to the Wards. "If we're going to make any headway against him, then we need to stop fighting in the dark. Figure out what exactly he can do, and find countermeasures to them. I want _everyone_ bringing up anything they can remember about him. I don't care how trivial it may seem. Start talking."

"He's strong." Aegis started. "And fast. Had a car lifted over his head _and_ managed to run faster than we expected. Tossed that car like it was a toy before attacking Laserdream hard enough to send her downwards. Broke my hand and slammed he into the ground like it was nothing. Definitely has super strength of some kind."

"He's tough too." Laserdream added. "I blasted him at point blank range, and he just shrugged it off. And he can create a shield on top of that."

Aegis groaned as he rubbed his face. "I remember that. Fuck, that hurt."

"Focus." Piggot said testily. "Where did he get it from?"

They both shrugged. "I didn't really see. But I think it was already wrapped around his arm. Or a part of it. But he could alter it. The surface became reflective. Guess he was trying to reflect my blasts or something. When that didn't work, he just charged me and pummeled me." She snapped her fingers as she remembered something else." And he's got some kind of healing factor. When I got a good look at him, he didn't have any signs of injuries. Hell, even his clothes were back to normal."

"Good. Super strength, speed, toughness; healing factor. Anything else?" Piggot looked at Clockblocker. "Dennis, what did you get hit by?"

"I… I dunno." He admitted. "One minute I'm dealing with Swarm's bugs. The next, I'm flying through the sky, crashing back to the ground, and getting swarmed."

"I saw it." Kid Win said. "The Hooded Man had stabbed his hand into the ground right before some long black thing smacked him."

"What was it made of?" Armsmaster asked. He was already compiling a list of ways to work around his other powers. Shields can be broken, strength redirected.

Still, that didn't change the fact that this new villain was a bigger threat than others. With others, you can take them down easily enough, once you get close enough without getting beaten or killed. But this new enemy sounded incredibly tough to shrug off a point blank attack.

Kid Win shrugged." I don't know. We weren't really in a state to collect samples."

Piggot sighed. "Alright then. It's a start, I suppose." Her features hardened. "But make no mistake that I am still disappointed in today's fight. Rest assured that there _will_ be repercussions for this." The Wards groaned theatrically as she led him and Miss Militia away. She waited until they were safely in her office before she could finally relax. She sighed as she sat heavily at her desk, head resting in her hands.

"Three times now." She muttered. "Three times this guy has shown up from nowhere and gotten away. We don't even have an official name for him yet for fuck's sake. He's making us look like fools."

"That's a bit melodramatic." Miss Militia said to her. "All he's done so far is rob a bank, get attacked by Glory Girl, and vandalise Mayor Christner's house. Hardly crimes at all. You're making him sound on the same level as Lung and Kaiser."

Piggot sighed again. "Thank you for reminding me about yet another fuck-up in all this mess." She said, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "I've been listening to him rant and rave about the damages since before Panacea got here. Someone's head is going on the chopping block for this, and it sure as hell isn't going to be mine. Besides, it's not about the seriousness of the crimes, or how many of them he's committed. It's about the fact that he managed to beat up our entire Wards program almost on his own. Everything they threw at him? He just shrugged it off, or outran it. Even _with_ media blackout on that, people still talk."

"Doesn't help that his first outing had him take down someone thought to be invincible." Armsmaster said. Personally, he already had a good idea as to how that was possible. Glory Girl's barrier shorts out after a strong hit. He had dozens of recordings confirming it. All this Masked Man had to do was hit her twice in succession, and she was down. Sounded impressive, but in reality was merely a fluke.

Anyone who could bring him in would skyrocket to greater fame. All _he_ had to do was run the numbers and learn as much as possible about him before he attacked.

And then the magic words. "I am placing him at the top of our to do list. Class B threat is the best I can do. If you spot him, you are free to engage. But here's something I want to make _perfectly_ clear to everyone. We can't afford for him to keep winning. It might convince the media that we're ineffectual, convince the villains that we can't stop him. Our victory works as long as they're afraid of us. Do not underestimate him. Act as though he's a minor Endbringer."

Miss Militia frowned. "Just so that we're clear, are you authorising the use of deadly force?" Piggot hesitated, aware of how that might sound.

"Just make sure that he's in no condition to resist arrest or break free." She ordered.

* * *

Dana had been looking through several classified pages on her laptop when Alex finally returned home. She didn't look up as he came in, eyes locked on the screen.

"Hey." She greeted him. "So how did you go on getting some cash?" He answered by dropping a small bag by her. She took her eyes away to look inside. Plenty of money; over a thousand in total. Alex just watched her.

"Don't ask where I got it." He said, turning away to go to his 'room'.

"Is it from pawning off Mayor Christner's stuff by any chance?" She asked him casually, smiling. He stopped, and turned to face her. His face was arranged in a somewhat exasperated way.

"Jesus." He cursed. "How quickly does news travel in this city?"

"Didn't get it from the news. The PRT has a blackout on what happened, though some people saw enough to get the gist. I learned the whole thing by hacking into their systems."

He frowned. "You know I don't like you doing that. What if they trace you back here?"

"Relax, Alex. I'm being careful. I'm mostly just skimming the surface." She turned back to her computer, the screen showing the PRT database. "You did pretty good. Took them down without any loss of life or missing limbs." She paused. "You know, maybe I should use some of our money to buy a rig from a villain. I'm sure they've got to have some hackers, or mission control out there somewhere."

"What makes you think we're doing this again?" Alex asked her. She rolled her eyes as she turned back to him.

"Come on, Alex. You try to hide it, but I can tell that you like this kind of work. It suits you." The corners of his mouth twitched. The closest he usually got to an actual smile. She grinned in return.

"…I _do_ like being a villain." He said. "I get to fight tough enemies and make some cash. The villains are going to pay me an extra five grand for not killing them on sight and helping smash the mansion. Should be ready by next week, assuming they're not stalling."

"In that case, we _really_ need to figure some things out. Your costume, your build, and definitely your villain name. It needs to be something dark, something catchy, something that fits you…" She puzzled over a few possible names. When she had turned back, Alex was in his armoured form. But some things weren't quite right. It was thinner in some places, more like his normal physique than his muscled one. Spines jutted from his elbows and around his knees. It was still a human shape, but something about it seemed unlike normal costumes. You could tell that it was more organic.

"Blacklight." He said, his voice several different voices all layered together. "Just call me Blacklight."

* * *

The next day, Alex revealed to her a startling revelation. She was nearly floored by what he said.

"You're shitting me." She said in response, eyebrows raised. "Taylor Herbert is Swarm?"

"She is." Alex replied. "That's why I'm interested in her. I want to figure out what would make her become a villain of all things. Figured you could help me find out."

" _And_ stop you from doing something stupid." She added, turning round to her laptop. "Well fuck, I'm curious too." She started tapping away, opening up pages and files. "Before we start though, how much do you know about how people here get powers?"

He shrugged. "Not much. Something called a trigger event, right?"

"Yeah. It's kinda hard to fully explain unless you've gone through it yourself, but it's basically the shittiest day of your life. The point where you hit rock bottom and can't go any further, or you lose all hope, or even just get the fright of your entire fucking life."

"So Taylor had to go through something traumatic to get her powers." Alex summarised, hands clenching tightly. "You think the father's involved somehow?"

"No." She replied instantly. "Everytime I talk to Danny, he gives me the feeling that he's worried about her. Making sure that she's alright and stuff. He wouldn't do that unless he really cared for her."

"Hmm." Alex murmured. "What else is there to trigger events?"

"Well, they're the reason that villains outnumber heroes. You can't normally go through that kind of shit and _not_ want to hurt people. Case in point." She tilted her head towards him.

Alex frowned, somewhat insulted. "Alex didn't need the trauma to want the world to pay. He was just pissed because he saw the world as not giving him what he was owed."

"Same thing. And you can't deny that you didn't kill a lot of people for revenge."

"Point made. What else?"

"A funny thing is that trigger events are easier in second generation capes. I don't know whether it's a cascade effect or similar wavelengths or something, but it's said to be freakishly easy to do if your parent is a cape. According to interviews, Glory Girl triggered when she was fouled during a basketball game."

"You serious?" Alex asked. "Some people have to go through hell to get their powers while Miss Bitch has to get told off for breaking a rule?" He shook his head. "That's bullshit."

"I agree. But that's how it happens. No one knows why." Her computer dinged. "Here we go. Got access to the Winslow High systems. Looking up Taylor now." Her rapid tapping stopped as she found something attached to her file. She held a hand to her mouth, eyes wide. "Oh god."

"What? What is it?" Alex asked, walking towards her. She quickly closed the lid, hiding the data from him. He looked at her in response.

"I can't let you see this Alex. Not until you _promise_ me that you won't go on a fucking murder spree." She said firmly. God knows that they deserve punishment, but not from them. She didn't want their cover blown just to make them pay. That's how they got found out the first few times.

Alex raised an eyebrow. "It's that bad?"

"Oh yeah."

He stood upright, one hand over his heart. "I promise you that I won't kill anyone over this. Or maim them. As long as beating them up isn't out of the question."

She nodded. "Good enough." She opened the screen up again, letting him get a closer look at the screen. He leaned over beside her, most of his biomass in his lower body. "God, I knew school was shitty. But it was never _this_ bad when I went."

Alex's brow furrowed as he read the document. "Miss Taylor Herbert was taken to the psychiatric ward after being found by a janitor locked inside her own locker. She went into an aggravated state upon release, screaming, clawing and suffering a severe panic attack. Inside the locker were large amounts of used feminine products including used tampons. When given medication to calm her anxiety, Miss Herbert admitted that she was being bullied, and had been for several months previously. No suspects have been identified. No witnesses have come forward." He backed away, hands clenching tight enough that his fingers were piercing his hand. His outline writhed in fury. "It was dated the first of January."

Dana nodded, tears in her eyes. "Four months ago. God."

"Why didn't anyone say anything? Someone _had_ to have seen something. There had to be witnesses."

"Alex, unfortunately most kids don't want to rock the boat. If it doesn't affect them, it's someone else's problem." She mulled something over. "You know, back when I went to school the worst bullies were almost always the most popular kids around. The fittest athletes, the prettiest girls, and the hottest guys. The kind of people most of us could only dream of being close to, enjoying everything they had. A lot of people wouldn't say anything because they didn't want to lose that."

"Selfish." Alex muttered. "They're all selfish." He paced the room, hand shifting into different weapons. He always got like that when he was angry, but she wouldn't let him go out. It seemed to calm him down somewhat. "Dana, how soon can you create a student ID for me? Get me enrolled in Taylor's classes?"

She gave him a solid look. She already knew what he was planning. "You're going to kill them, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "I promised I wouldn't. And I mean it. I try my best to keep my promises to you."

"But you _are_ going to hurt them. You're going to beat them up."

"Yes."

She turned back to her computer. "In that case, give me an hour to work."

* * *

It took at least two days before Taylor arrived at school. And he could already identify possible suspects for her bullying.

Three girls leered at her as she entered, smug grins on their faces. One of them was apparently attempting to make herself appear younger than she really was. Or going for some childish style. He never really cared enough to figure them out. She was slim like Taylor was, with long brown hair and blue pins. The girl next to her was different. Tall, curved and with luscious red hair. The male personalities within him identified her as sexy, hot, a jailbait. Looks like Dana was right about the bullies being the pretty ones. The last member was leaning back in her chair, texting away. There were clear signs of antisocial behaviour. She was like him in a way. Neither of them cared much about what others thought. They enjoyed hurting others. She was African-American, her body lean from exercise expect for her chest. Another one considered pretty. He watched as Taylor moved away from them. She didn't flinch – her time as Swarm likely made them seem less dangerous in response – but he could see many tiny signs of worry and stress. She moved to sit down, but stopped. She looked at her seat for a couple of seconds while the bullies giggled. Not reacting, she immediately moved to the back. Down to where he was sitting. She looked surprised to see him there, likely not aware that there was a new 'student'. But she didn't say anything. Didn't greet him or anything.

He was probably too menacing to fit in.

The lesson started, taken by a teacher calling himself 'Mr. G'. A teacher trying too hard to appear like a student. The academic within him hated the guy already. They weren't here to become buddies; they were here to learn. He was going over local history; history altered because of capes. Like how Scion stopped the terrorists from crashing into the Twin Towers; how the practice of witch-burning was still going strong in third-world countries. And during the lesson, Taylor was busy fidgeting; casting glances towards the bullies. She didn't seem to be paying attention.

And then they were placed into groups. Ones chosen by popularity or friendship. When Taylor gravitated towards the table furthest to the back, surrounded by the rest of the class destitute, he joined her. She jumped as he sat down, looking at him quickly before looking away. Sitting with them was a lanky boy who seemed five seconds away from jittering himself to pieces, and a stoned kid ready to fall asleep at his desk. Small wonder they were the outcasts in this class.

Taylor cleared her throat. "Alright then." She said, more to herself than to them. "Guess we should start working. Think about some of the most recent changes parahuman presence has brought to the world." She pulled out a pen and paper, writing everything down in neat handwriting. She looked back up at them when she was done. "Anyone got any ideas?"

The lanky kid started speaking. "Well, the cool things they did with powers made for some really awesome video games and comics. Like a few months ago, before I got started on Space Opera, you remember me talking about that? I was playing one of the official games that the Protectorate sells. It was really awesome. I was playing as Armsmaster, because he's one of the coolest, and I was pulling off awesome combos like he does in real life. You see, the trick is…" And he rambled on like that for far longer than Alex liked. It was taking a lot of self-control to not shut him up permanently. He noticed that Taylor was writing something completely different from what he was saying. He doubted Greg even noticed her disinterest.

"…And then you have to grab the green power up, which lets you pull off an instant super attack against the boss. That'll stun him long enough for you to reach the wires up top, and then you can use them to…"

"Since the advent of capes, the balance between the law and crime has shifted dramatically." Alex interrupted him, getting Taylor's attention. "With the introduction of powers, police fatalities are higher, along with property damage. Attacks on banks are higher, along with many other high-profile crimes such as kidnapping, ransom and extortion. Fort Knox, previously said to be unbreakable, has been successfully robbed four times before the Government created the PRT in response to the surge of parahuman activity." These were all facts that he had read from sources. His mind kept track of them all and recited them with ease. "When the Endbringers first attacked, crime only increased. The areas they hit that managed to survive suffered a decrease in heroes, a rise in the homeless, and an increase to chaos. The Government was too busy bringing working order to the city to concentrate on the rising levels of crime, and people who had been forced out of their homes had to become more aggressive to survive. Crime increases from seventy five to a hundred and fifty percent after an Endbringer attack. At the same time, Slaughterhouse Nine appeared. The rising death toll caused even more police fatalities, with the city under attack usually suffering a ten to twenty five loss for every S9 member taken down. From there, many of the surviving villains take control from the overstretched heroes and government, creating breeding grounds for more crime that spread outwards to claim more territory. This in turn creates a domino effect as the heroes lose ground, people, and morale." He crossed his arms and leaned back. "That's not including the number of capes whose powers tend to cause long lasting damage or could be considered apocalyptic, such as the Sleeper."

If Taylor's mouth hung any looser, he could fit his fist down her throat. "I… That is…" She coughed. "Thank you for that, uh…"

"Ragland." He offered. "Alexander Ragland. Staying here with my aunt Dana." That was something _she_ decided on. That way, when she got called in because he sent the bullies into the hospital or a coma, it wouldn't seem weird to Taylor that she was coming in.

Taylor still looked at him funnily. "I didn't know that Dana had a nephew."

He shrugged. He didn't really expect the deception to last long. "I don't think you asked."

"So why are you here?"

"Got in trouble back home in New York. Dad sent me here to see if a change in scenery would calm me down." He stole a glance at the bullies. The redhead and the kid were giggling with their friends, while the athlete didn't join in. Taylor saw where he was looking and rolled her eyes.

Let her have the wrong impression then. It didn't matter to him.

He learnt their names near the end of class, when Mr. G asked for presentations. The redhead was called Emma. The kid was Madison. The athlete was Sophia. Good. Now he'd at least have some warning if they suffered complications or something. Nothing as embarrassing as coming back to Dana and finding out that he accidently killed somebody. She _never_ lets him forget those moments. He kept a close eye on Taylor, so he saw her be the first person out of the room.

Emma and her friends were right behind her. He joined them just as quickly.

He followed them towards the end of the hall, where they were blocking Taylor off. Emma was saying something, something that made Taylor look upset. She was trying to hide it behind anger, contempt, and indifference. But the psychiatrists he had eaten could see it.

Funny. He could pick people apart in his head, but he could never really interact with them. He listened in on their conversation.

"…Showed your face, Taylor." Emma was saying. He had to be careful when listening. Had to filter out the sounds so he didn't end up with damaged eardrums because someone talked right next to him. "Honestly, you could've crawled under a rock and died, and no one would even notice."

"Yeah." Madison said meanly. "Everyone would probably be happy that you're gone. Start up a public holiday. Ding dong, the loser is dead." Alex saw several more girls walking past him. The girls that had been talking to the bullies. They quickly joined in, adding insult after insult. Sophia, likely annoyed at the lack of reaction, smacked Taylor across the face. The other girls laughed at that like it was the funniest thing ever.

They stopped laughing when he grabbed two of them and slammed their heads together. They both collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The others turned to look at him, most of them afraid.

He didn't stop moving. He drove his fist into the next girl, kicking out at a second before head-butting the third. He didn't stop moving even as they crumpled and puked, heading straight for the trio. Emma was completely pale now, someone who obviously couldn't handle it when someone fought back. Sophia moved forward to fight back, but he dodged her strike and slapped another girl to the ground. Then he slammed his leg into Madison, the smaller girl's ribs fracturing as he drove her into Emma. They both went down as he parried another strike from Sophia. Something about her style seemed familiar. He drove his knee into her and pushed her away, before crouching over Emma and punching her in the face. His hands were covered in her blood, likely from a split lip and bloody nose. He was jolted as a kick slammed into his side, but he rolled with the force to get back up to his feet. Sophia was still going, one hand wrapped around her midriff. Now he could focus his attention on her. They both squared off before charging in, trading blows and blocking each other. And yet he still felt like he knew her from somewhere.

It wasn't until she got a hand on his arm and tried to slam her palm against his elbow that he finally placed her.

Shadow Stalker.

His arm bended with the blow, but he simply used that to punch her in the face. She backed away, dazed, giving him time to realign his arm and wail on her. Everytime he hit her, she gasped in pain. He knew he had the advantage here. Her only defence against him was her shadow state, and she couldn't use that without outing herself. While he still had his strength and stolen training.

He kicked her to the ground and started pummeling her until several teachers pulled him off her. He landed a final blow in the stomach before he let himself get pulled away. Students were shouting, teachers were shouting, everyone was making some kind of noise.

Only Taylor was quiet. She was staring at the injured girls lying at her feet, looking at him in shock.

Why did she look like she _cared_ about the people who fucked her up?

* * *

Dana sighed as she tried to maneuver her way through traffic. She knew that Alex was going to get in trouble. That was the whole reason she had agreed to this. Let him go to school, find those bullies, and make them suffer. Honestly, what they did to Taylor was _beyond_ bullying. It was torture. It's what you'd do to break someone completely. Sure, Blackwatch was just as fucking bad, if not worse. But at least they were like that because the Virus forced them to be that nasty. These kids had no such excuse.

So yeah, she wasn't bothered that Alex had gotten in trouble fucking them up. She was just surprised by how quickly it had taken him. First period would've only just finished for her to get the phone call so soon. She finally managed to weave her way into the school carpark and find a place. From there, it was a short walk to the office. To one side was the sick bay, meant for kids who injured themselves during gym, recess or just being idiots. When she went past, she could see that there were more nurses inside. Some were obviously teachers.

She could also hear the kids inside sobbing in pain. There had to have been half a dozen of them in there.

A narrow woman with a severe bowl-cut was waiting for her, anger evident on her face. She clicked her tongue against her teeth. "Dana Mercer, I assume?"

"Yeah, that's me. Sorry that I'm late; traffic was a real bitch today." Dana replied, holding out a hand to shake. The principal ignored her. And a fine hello too, you bitch.

"And you are the registered guardian for Alexander Ragland?" She asked.

"That's what it says on the paperwork." And it should; she wrote it after all. "Listen, let's just get this over and done with. You called saying that Alex had been in a fight with some people?"

The principal nodded. "According to eye witnesses, he just marched up to them and started inflicting serious injuries. At least two girls are still unconscious, and one Madison Clements has suffered broken ribs."

Yeah, that sounded like his handiwork alright. She sighed and gave the other woman a tired smile. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Alex has always been a scrapper. Between my brother getting divorced, some assholes at school, and a lack of calm at home he's always been in one fight or another. Sometimes I think Bradley's spent more time patching up his own son that his patients. He thought that moving in with me and Uncle Alex might help him calm down. Guess that was a complete fuck-up."

The principal frowned even more, glancing at the document before her. "So his father is a doctor."

"Yeah. Always wanted to be."

"Is there any chance I could speak to him? Perhaps a cellphone number, or a work number?"

Dana shook her head. "No luck there I'm afraid. As divorces go, this one was _real_ messy. Name calling, accusations, pedophile allegations, thrown crockery… Bradley decided he needed a long break from _everyone_. No cellphone or anything. Just him in the middle of nowhere."

"But then how do you get in contact with him in cases like… this?" She waved a hand at Alex, who was seated near them. He was busy glowering at the floor, the perfect picture of an antisocial kid who got pulled for fighting. But the lack of tenseness in his body told her something else. He was happy.

She smiled at the principal. "I didn't quite follow his smart-guy jargon, but I'm pretty sure he gave the intellect version of 'bitch, he's your problem now'."

"So your brother cut off all forms of communication to anyone and left you a problem child with no way of requesting help if it was needed." The skepticism was thick in her voice.

"Basically." She shrugged. "I know, I'm pissed as well. But being pissed off isn't gonna help deal with Alex." She gave him a look. "Might help to know _what_ exactly set him off."

Alex shrugged, still glowering. "Saw that girl from next door getting slapped. Didn't like it. Went to stop it." He finally looked up at the principal. "Maybe if you policed your school better I wouldn't have had to do your job for you."

The principal's brow furrowed. Dana couldn't tell if it was because of Alex's insult, or the fact that bullying might've happened under her nose. She turned back to Dana. "I will arrange a disciplinary hearing between him, the girls he attacked, and Taylor Herbert, who was also at the scene. But until that day, Alexander can consider himself suspended from school.

So instead of punishing him, she was sending the murderous bioweapon _away_ from all the vulnerable students? This couldn't have gone better if Alex had actually planned it that way.

But she wasn't finished. "In the meantime, I expect you to keep him well away from the girls he attacked. If he gets within fifty feet of any of them, I will have no choice but to expel him."

"Right." Dana replied. "So, if that's everything, I guess I'll take the little psycho back home now." She grabbed Alex by the hand and pulled him along, with him acting like a disgruntled child. Some of the girls were waiting in the hallway. They backed away in terror as they approached. One of them, a redhead, might've been pretty if Alex hadn't given her a onceover. Now she was holding her face, tears running down her cheeks as her whole body shook.

She felt almost sorry for her.

Once they passed them all, Alex spoke up. "She was one of the ringleaders tormenting Taylor. Likely had a hand in her trigger event." He muttered.

She stopped feeling sorry for her.

She waited until they were both in the truck and driving away before speaking openly. "Ok then. You found the bullies and fucked them sideways. Now what?"

"You saw the way they were back there. They're used to psychological attacks. Taunting people, insulting them, little digs that build up over time. Petty insults. They're not used to violence. After my fight, they're likely to stay far away from Taylor in case I find them and go another round." He looked out the window. "It's the athlete I'm still concerned about. Sophia."

"You mean the black girl." She assumed. She was the only one not crying back there. Instead, she had glared at Alex with the kind of passion she hadn't seen in a long time. The kind Alex had when he was hunting for Karen.

She didn't just want payback. She wanted _blood_.

Alex nodded. "I recognised her fighting style. She's Shadow Stalker. The school's probably been told to ignore everything she does to make sure she can still be used."

"Jesus. That's seriously fucked up. I can't believe they'd let someone suffer just to keep her out there attacking the bad guys."

"Yeah, it _is_ disgusting. But more importantly, it means that a few blows from a student won't scare her off. They'll just make her angry. I need to deal with her while we're in costume, make it clear why I'm doing it. Out here, I've got every reason to cut loose and break every bone in her body."

"As long as you don't kill her, I don't think anyone's gonna mind. We'll do some research on her when we get back. Find out what her weaknesses are."

Alex nodded. "Do so. She can't hurt me, but I don't like surprises."

* * *

 **Ok, you can't tell me that you guys** _ **haven't**_ **wanted to see the living shit kicked out of those three since the beginning of Worm. I know that Taylor's probably more morally strong than me, but if** _ **I**_ **were in her place, with the bullying and the powers and the Undersiders, I'd want to get even.**

 **And yeah, Taylor's got a new name. I'm not saying that Skitter is bad or anything, but Swarm sounds so much like a villain name than Skitter. Plus, she does usually end up swarming her enemies with bugs. It's a very fitting name. Not to mention she could shout things like 'The Swarm is Here'. And talking about names, Blacklight is the best one for Alex. Zeus would make people think lightning user rather than King of the Gods (which I think is what Blackwatch was going for), and given his black** **armour** **it definitely fits.**

 **And we also had our first meeting between Alex and the Undersiders. I figure Alex is a violent guy, so obviously he wouldn't play nice on the first meeting. Not unless there's cash involved.**

 **Been reading the later chapters of Worm. I know now that the PRT systems are closed off, but I don't think they said that there weren't any off-site, more vulnerable systems. Or this could be happening because** _ **someone**_ **noticed Dana. Who can say?**

 **And yeah, Alex has probably got to have one of the more varied group of powers out there. I think most people we see are either super strong, super-fast, super tough, or a combination of two. I don't think many besides Alexandria or Leviathan are all three at once.**

 **Notice how the list includes members of the S-class club. Yeah. Just saying.**

 **Something else I've noticed. Remember how I said last chapter that this story is shared between Alex and Taylor? Scratch that. This is pretty much Alex Mercer's tale. Alex has super strength, speed, and toughness, shapeshifting powers, weaponised viruses, and plenty more abilities. Taylor... can control bugs. That's kinda like comparing Green Arrow to Superman. Both a pretty awesome heroes, but we all know who is far cooler and stronger.**

 **No questions for now, but if I come up with any I'll add them as an edit. See you guys later. And keep those constructive reviews coming.**


	3. Step 3 - Start Killing the Opposition

**Hey again. Since it's still Christmas and the season of giving (and I've already finished this chapter) I decided that I'll release yet another chapter of my story. Meant to have done it last night my time, but I forgot.**

 **I just want to answer something a guest said before we start though. You pointed out that there are plenty of capes out there who could kill Alex easily, like Sundancer. Yes, they very well could. Alex is still vulnerable to their dangerous powers. But that's why I call the capes glass cannons. They can do a hell of a lot of damage, even to Alex. But they're still vulnerable. A solid hit from Alex can put them out of the fight; a heavier hit or one of his deadlier attacks can outright kill them. Add in his healing and speed, and you've got someone who can tank or dodge most attacks and keep on fighting.** _ **That's**_ **why Alex is so dangerous compared to the capes. That, and he could just infect them with the Virus and kill them all that way.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Step 3 – Start Killing Off the Opposition**

Lisa looked down at me, the hint of a smile on her face. "Someone looks like they're down in the dumps." She said to me. "What's wrong, Taylor? Bad day at school again?"

I looked up at her from the couch I was lying on. "I wish." I said dully. "Someone attacked the bullies for me." The images were still playing in my head, the sounds louder than ever. The crack Madison made as she was kicked. The fleshy pounding of fist against Emma's face. The thud as Sophia was taken apart.

I shuddered.

Alec looked at me from the other couch. He was probably one second away from rolling his eyes. "Look, dork. I know you don't want _us_ coming along and giving them what's coming. But someone else, a complete stranger, beats them up and you're _still_ upset? You should be cheering. Throwing a party. Buying us a fancy meal with your cash. Instead, you're acting like _you_ were the one who got the shit kicked out of them." He frowned. "Hang on. This isn't one of those weird situations where you secretly _like_ getting hurt?"

I _did_ roll my eyes at him. "No, I'm not one of those people." You see them on the news sometimes. People who dress up and act like villains because they get off on being hurt. Most of them suffer some pretty heavy penalties for wasting time. The rest just keep it at home. "It's just… You didn't see it. This new kid, he nearly killed them. At least a few had to go to the hospital he hurt them so badly."

"Again, what's the problem?"

"He's my next door neighbour."

"Ah." Lisa said, nodding in understanding. "You're not comfortable having someone as violent as him living one house down from you."

"Among other things." I murmured.

"You've got Bitch one room away from you. How is this any different?"

"With Bitch I don't feel as though she's one thought away from killing me." I explained.

"I dunno. Sometimes she is."

" _My point_ is that this guy took matters into his own hands and escalated it pretty damn quickly. They barely had any time to react. It was… It was…" I struggled to find the words.

Lisa, with her power, found them for me. "Like if Lung himself walked in and attacked them." She offered.

As she said that, a realisation came to me. Before today, I hadn't seen any sign that the Mercers were looking after a kid. There had been no sign of him whenever I was around, and they didn't seem the type. But both Alex _Mercer_ and Alex _Ragland_ gave me the same bad feeling. Like they had killed before, enough times that death didn't even mean anything to them. They both seemed antisocial, gruff.

And if I thought about it, Ragland looked exactly like a younger Alex Mercer.

My thoughts were interrupted as Lisa's phone chimed. I looked up to see her scrolling through it, her face a mixture of good and bad. She saw me looking.

"That was our employer." She explained. "He was just letting us know that he's left the extra money with the stash of pawned cash we got from the robbery."

"So we're richer now." Brian said from the other side of the room, where he was exercising. I had to stop myself from looking, watching his glistening pecs at work. "That's good news, so why do you look like it's bad news?"

Alec chuckled. "Because now she's got to find a way to reach out to the nutjob who took out the Wards almost singlehandedly. I'd be worried too."

Lisa sighed. "Yeah, I'm not worried about contacting him. I'm just worried that he might…"

"Kill us and take _all_ the money for himself?" Alec offered. I felt a shiver of fear. He could easily do that. Grue's darkness, Regents powers, Bitch's dogs, my bugs… They'd do nothing against him. He murder us all before Lisa could probably even warn us.

"Not. Helping." Brian said firmly, glowering at Alec. Lisa rolled her eyes and started tapping away at her laptop. I got up from the couch to see what she was doing. I found her on Parahumans Online.

I looked at her. "You're contacting him the same way you contacted me." I realised. She shrugged in response.

"Hey. If it ain't broke…" She tapped out a message, under the threat 'Masked Man'.

'Hey, MM. Remember that wicked party at the house? Remember how we said we owed you? Got your prize here. Meet up at the Docks, by the ferry. Talk to you there. Tt.'

"There we go." She said. "Now we just need to wait for a response, and hope we get there before him. I don't think he's a patient man." We heard the sound of the door closing, and I turned to see that Rachael had gone. Along with her dogs.

"Probably gone for a walk." Lisa guessed. The rest of us went back to what we were doing, waiting to see if we'd get a response. Personally, I'd be happier if he failed to show up. I wasn't sure I was ready to work with someone so intense.

But an hour later and plenty of speculation on what Lisa's comment meant, we got a response. As expected, it was short and blunt.

'Understood. You better not screw me. Zeus.'

"Let's go people. Time to meet our murderous friend." Lisa said, sounding like she wanted to do anything else.

* * *

We arrived at the ferry in around twenty minutes. Long enough that if he had left when he commented, he would've been waiting for a while. We were going to march up the ramp and meet him there, but something dropped down from above. As it stood back up, I got a good look at it.

It was humanoid, covered in armour. But it looked completely organic, more like some giant had coated a doll in some goop than actual plating. Spines erupted from the elbows and knees, and the pelvis flared outwards. There were signs of sculpted pectorals, but they seemed almost to flow into each other like candle wax. The legs were similar, looking like several bands melting into each other. The head itself was covered by a helmet, featureless save for a few dots in the surface. Eyes maybe? But they were placed in the wrong spots. More down towards the mouth than towards the forehead, and placed at wrong angles.

The Masked Man.

Tattletale gave him a nervous smile. "Our friendly home wrecker, I assume?" She said, as though he _didn't_ scare her. The helmet turned towards her. Whatever way he used to see, it was clearly working.

A whispering sound started up. "Indeed." He said, his voice like a crowd speaking at once. It was such a drastic change that I almost didn't believe it was the same man. "I go by the name Blacklight now."

"And you updated your wardrobe. Nice. The hoodie was a little…"

"I'm not here to chat." He interrupted her. "I'm here because I'm owed five thousand dollars."

If Tattle was annoyed at being interrupted, she was smart enough not to show it. "Right. This way then." We all started walking, an odd sight even by Brockton Bay's standards. I was still worried that he would lose patience with us and attack or something. "My teammates and I have a few concerns about your… behaviour." Tattletale was saying.

"Tough. I'm not changing just because I scare the shit out of you." He replied gruffly.

"It's not that." She hesitated. "Ok, there _is_ that too. We're more worried about you planning on killing us and taking all our money with you."

"Good thinking." He said, and I couldn't tell if he meant it was something we were right to be worried about, or if we just gave him a new idea. "This employer of yours. Is he likely to have more work waiting for us?"

"He will."

"In that case, you're better for me alive and unharmed." I didn't like that. I know I've probably made it clear already, but I didn't like _him_. His tone implied that we were only alive so long as he found us useful.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what he would do when we stopped being so useful to him.

They made great time to wherever the others kept their stolen cash, likely helped by Blacklight forcing us to move faster. I didn't know if it was a deliberate thing on his part or if he was just impatient. But our walk took us towards the storage facility, a place filled with storage containers. When housing and unemployment became a problem, some guy suggested converting these containers into homes. It was successful for a time. But then they became drug dens, plague pits, and massive coffins. People steer clear of them now; this place had a feeling of death and decay.

Grue led the pack, obviously aware of which bin we were looking for. We weaved through a veritable maze, ending up with me not having a clue where we were. The road could be on the other side of me, and I wouldn't even know. Anyone following us would've been even more lost. Grue found the container easily enough, and started fiddling with the lock. I wished he would hurry up. This place didn't feel right to me. I hated being here.

"Shit." Grue said, his voice strained as he got the door open. I peeked inside, only to find it completely empty. No money, no items, nothing.

I backed away only to hit something solid. Blacklight.

Even behind his helmet, he still managed to glare at us. "There had better be a damn good reason I'm looking at an empty bin rather than my money. Or else I'm going to _make_ you tell me where it is." The fingers on one hand lengthened, becoming sharper and jagged. He held it upright, letting us all see the large claws he now had.

"Bitch fucked us over." Regent said suddenly. I looked at him in surprise.

Blacklight tilted his head. "The dog girl? You really think she's sophisticated enough to pick the lock, strap all the money to her mutts, lock the door after her, and then hightail out of here without leaving any sign that she had been here?" He gave a short chuckle. "Bitch and I have a lot in common. Such as 'why pick a lock when you can break down the door?'"

"He's right." Tattletale said. "She didn't do this."

"Then who did?" Grue asked.

"A cape. Someone good with locks."

"A villain?" I asked.

"A villain. More than one. And they're still here."

Soft clapping started near us. It was kind that was obviously slow enough to be sarcastic.

"Very good." A think reedy voice said. We all backed away to look up above our locker. The two villains looked down at us, dressed in ridiculous outfits. They were wearing blue leotards with broad belts, white sleeves and leggings clashing with the colour. They were masked by skintight white hoods, with only a small window for their eyes, which were covered by dark goggles. An antenna jutted upwards, shaking slightly. For some bizarre reason, their gloves, boots, and the tip of their antennae were bright bubblegum pink.

"Thanks to you lot, we've made quite a lot of money." Uber and leet chuckled. "And now, thanks to you lot, we're going to get a sizable rep boost."

* * *

"What the fuck am I looking at here?" Alex said to himself, aware that his inner radio would pick it up and broadcast back to Dana. A holdover from when he was fighting Blackwatch. Helped him listen in on their communications. Now he was using it to keep in constant contact with her.

"Hold on, I can't see what you're seeing. Just let me look at this pop-up before I start guessing." She must've clicked on something, because she responded quickly. "Ok, yeah, I see what you mean. The two fashion victims before you are known as Uber and Leet. They're kind of like the Team Rocket of this place."

"What does that mean?" He asked. Sometimes he missed the references she made. A drawback of not having any interest in pointless memories about media.

"It means that they're really pathetic. So pathetic that the PRT can let them 'escape' without anyone complaining. Practically everyone's beaten them at some point. Make most of their money from live broadcasts of their antics. That's what I'm watching now." He looked up to see a golden floating camera, Swarm's bugs messing with it.

The two villains were making grandiose speeches, trying to intimidate the Undersiders and him. He simply ignored them. "If they're capes, then they've got to have some kind of power. What is it?"

"Leet is a Tinker. He can build all kinds of shit. But he can only build it once. If something he builds gets too close to something he's already made, it blows up in his face. Sometimes literally."

"Pathetic." He said, shaking his head. This was seriously what's between him and his pay? He almost didn't even want to consume them. "What about Uber?"

"He's basically really good at whatever he does. Lock-picking, martial arts, cooking, ballet. He's better at it than people who spend decades training for it."

"That's it? What about super strength? Or speed?"

"Nope. He's all skill. He'll probably dodge your attacks for a bit, but once you hit him he's down for the count." Alex turned back to see Leet falling from the roof and landing on his face. He shook his head in disgust. To think that these losers were standing in his way.

Were they even smart enough to have come up with this on their own?

There was one other thing bugging him. "What's with the bad costume? Something about it seems familiar somehow."

He heard Dana snort. "They're video game aficionados, determined to express the glory and worth of video games. One time they're dressing up as Mario and Bowser; the next they're pretending they're in a real life Grand Theft Auto. Given how stupid it looks, I think they're going for retro games."

He realised what they reminded him of. "Bomberman."

"Seriously? You can't be bothered to remember Team Rocket but Bomberman sticks around in that fucking pit of a head of yours?"

"Who cares? All I need to know is that they're gonna be tossing around bombs." Bombs were annoying. Powerful enough to hurt him, easy enough to place, but rarely something he could use himself. He'd have to keep on the move during this fight.

Then Uber charged, and he moved to intercept him.

Despite his skill, Uber was moving in slow-motion compared to him. He had barely gotten halfway to them before Alex had met him in combat. Uber immediately dropped into a crouch, kicking out at his feet. Alex simply jumped over his attack and slammed his fists together. As Uber was sent reeling from the shockwave of his attack, he bowled him over with his momentum. Then he turned around and booted him into the air. Something went crack as Uber landed. Hopefully it was just his arms or his leg. Dana might get on his case if he killed the idiot.

He could hear her chuckling over the line. "Behold the power of social media. Thousands of people got to see Uber getting used like a football." He rolled his eyes and turned towards Leet, just in time to see him pull out a bomb.

A genuine classic bomb. Round black casing with a lit fuse. He blinked at the sight of it. What, did he step into a cartoon or something?

When Leet tossed it, he moved to smack it out of the air. It exploded in his face, but he barely even felt it. He had to take one step back, but that was more from the force behind it than anything else.

Hard light bombs perhaps. Nowhere near as dangerous as the real deal. Leet had focused so much on style that he didn't even bother with substance.

His impression of them became more or less correct.

Leet tossed another bomb at him, but now that he knew they were pathetic he didn't even both backhanding them. He just built up some armour and walked towards him, letting them explode ineffectually against his plating. Now panicking, Leet pulled out a large sword from behind his back. It was made from blue metal, with a winged cross guard. On it was a triangle symbol.

Dana tutted. "Really? Link's Master Sword? You'd think he'd at least have the decency to stick to his own damn theme." Alex didn't reply. Leet had moved to strike him with the blade, his movement so slow and fumbling Alex could've slapped the blade out of his hand before he got anywhere near. Sure enough, when it jarred against his armour, it slipped out of his hands. Alex drove an elbow into his face, blood flying. The sword vanished like a projection. Alex grabbed him from behind and ripped the backpack away. Leet paled as he was lifted towards his face.

"Tell me where the money is, or I will break you." Alex said. The fact he said it so calmly, combined with his altered voice, made it far more menacing. Menacing enough that Leet's eyes rolled backwards and he fainted.

"Ah shit." Regent said as he approached. "Now we're gonna have to get some smelling salts before we can talk to him."

"Is Uber still dealt with?" Alex asked.

Tattletale nodded. "He broke his left leg when he landed. Even all his skill isn't going to help him escape."

"They usually have henchmen." Swarm was saying. "Unemployed workers who are willing to run around in skintight clothes for some cash. If we find them, we'll find the money. And maybe Bitch as well."

"Close but not quite." A mechanical voice hissed. They all turned to see a woman dressed in the same costume as well. Only she wore a gas mask with hers.

So this must be the one in charge. Knew they were too dimwitted to pull this thing off themselves.

"Should've realised that you got Brockton Bay's newest star on your side." She said. Her mask converted everything she said into a lone mechanical tone. "Still, I was kinda hoping they'd do more than become a matching set of punching bags."

"Bakuda?" Tattletale asked in surprise. "Fuck me, you're working with them?"

"They're working for _her_." Alex said aloud. Bakuda started clapping in response.

"Ooh. We've got a smart one here." She said. "And he's right. Uber and Leet were all too willing to get hired, as long as I wore this ridiculous outfit and paid them a hundred bucks."

"Should've forked out some more for some _real_ talent." Tattletale smirked.

"Oh, don't worry. I came prepared." She snapped a finger, and the doors around them slammed open. Dozens of people started moving, every one of them wielding a weapon of some manner. Guns, baseball bats, crowbars. Anything that gang members could grab to hurt people.

"Alex." Dana said worriedly. "Bakuda is a Tinker. She builds bombs. The kind Blackwatch would pay an arm and a leg for. Don't even think about tanking them."

"And as for you." Bakuda said, looking at Alex. I've prepared a few special surprises just for you." She tossed out a bomb, the beeping already high-pitched. Too late to hit it away. He jumped high into the air while the Undersiders ran for it.

Even above it, he still felt the shockwave of the explosion.

Bakuda pulled out a grenade launcher, aiming it right at him. He quickly blasted some air out his side, dashing out of the way so that it exploded harmlessly. Part of him wanted to just reel himself towards her, but until he dealt with the launcher she could still hit him on approach. Despite how cowardly it felt, he moved away from her. Try and come back from another direction, somewhere she wouldn't expect him. He turned back to see a blanket of darkness. Grue at work, no doubt. If they survived, fine. If not, more money for him.

He turned back to see a person standing in his way. He smirked as he got closer, ready to slice him apart and maybe grab a quick snack.

His smirk dropped as the man vanished. He was a hologram guarding a bomb.

"Fuck." Alex cursed, using another burst of air to halt his approach. The bomb exploded right before him, everything getting frozen over. He jumped over it, his senses picking up another grenade on approach. He pushed his mass downwards, dropping back to earth as it exploded above him. Acid rained down on him. He shrugged it off and started running again. Behind him, several storage lockers exploded into flames.

He doubted Bakuda was even aiming for him. Likely she just enjoyed the chaos, trying to herd him towards more danger.

Time to reveal a new skill them.

He turned around, heading back towards the signs of chaos and explosions. He decided to keep to the ground level. Down here, he might run into more bombs. But up there, he was a lone target. The first ABB he ran into was another fake. As the bomb exploded behind him, everything seemed to start slowing down. He outran the effect only to run into another bomb. A short hop and his forward momentum allowed him to avoid the worst of it, his body healing over the damage.

The third group he met were real people. All had the looks of hardened gang members, people who have been a willing part of ABB for years. He sliced them apart and consumed them, taking on their appearance. One of them though, he found a small bomb in the skull. Likely packing enough explosives to turn the guy into a red mist. Seemed her style. He discarded it and ran towards the chaos at a slower pace. No one stopped him; as far as they were concerned, he was just someone catching up to the others. He found everyone else, standing before the Undersiders. Bakuda had trapped them. She was rambling on about something, keeping careful watch over them. Something about scaring people. He ignored it; he'd know what she was saying soon enough. He pushed his way through the crowd, moving as though he had a purpose.

He got within ten feet of her when she spun around to face him.

Maybe she had a tracker in the bomb he found; maybe her power told her something. Maybe she was just being paranoid. But whatever it was, it saved her life. She fired a grenade right into his chest, the explosion pushing him back and killing those closest to him. Some of the members – those obviously forced against their will – screamed and panicked as he was blown up. He hissed in pain as he started pulling himself together. But she fired a smaller explosion at his chest, ripping a hole into him. As he started healing, she fired some small device into the wound.

He moved to remove it, but it detonated before he could.

He was expecting pain as he was ripped apart. But instead it didn't really hurt at all. Just the strange feeling of having his biomass pulled and warped in different directions. Everything went blurry for a moment as his body tried to adapt and adjust. By the time he was done, Bakuda was driving away. Guess the Undersiders escaped during the commotion.

A crackling sound managed to reach his ears. "…Alex? Alex, can you hear me?" Dana.

He groaned as he tried to sit up. "I hear you." He responded, voice even raspier than normal. He was having trouble finding his sense of balance. "Bakuda got me. Dumb luck. She's chasing the Undersiders now. Don't know why."

"I do. After I saw Bakuda on their camera, I started looking into her and any connection to the Undersiders. Apparently they and the ABB have crossed paths a few times. And word on Parahuman Online is that a swarm of bugs attacked Lung and his boys while they were gearing up to fight them. Guess Bakuda blames them for his arrest." As she spoke, Alex took stock of his current state. His legs, now strips of biomass after the initial explosion, were twice as long. His right leg though was only half its normal length. His remaining arm was bloated, a hammerfist covered in what felt like bulges. His head was just as bad. Parts of it sagged in places, while other drooped like water. His attempts to rearrange his body went slowly. He helped it along by cannibalising the worst affected parts, converting them into more biomass. It only took his a couple of minutes, but he had returned to normal. "Alex, the camera caught her talking about how she's implanted bombs into peoples' heads. How she can trigger them whenever."

"Already knew that." He said, taking off after the explosions again. He couldn't let her catch him out like that again.

"In that case, talk to Tattletale about them. She might have a dead man's switch or something."

"Will do." He replied, jumping over cover to engage. Ahead of him, Bakuda was standing on a jeep, tracking the Undersiders. As he got close, her passenger noticed him. He swerved away wildly, forcing Bakuda to hold on for dear life.

She dropped the grenade launcher. He grabbed it as he passed, a claw raking the side of the jeep. When he landed beside the Undersiders, he pointed it at her and pulled the trigger.

Nothing.

"It won't work." Tattletale said. "It's coded to her fingerprints. No one else can use it."

He smirked. He could work around that easily. Bakuda came round for a second pass, and he fired his whipfist right at her. Spotting the tentacle, she grabbed the passenger and threw him in the way. This act slowed him down enough for her to survive, his tendrils having to work through his corpse to reach her. Thanks to that, his lethal strike only managed to slash her arm. Blood ran down it as she cried out in pain.

Oh well. At least the secondary condition was met.

He didn't know who was more surprised when he fired a grenade at the jeep. But it did its job. The vehicle exploded, the driver and camera man were killed instantly. Bakuda was thrown from the wreckage, her legs aflame and shorn off. He dropped the launcher and stomped towards her.

She cost him biomass. Only fair that she replenish it.

Bakuda turned to glare up at him. "You won't dare kill me." She hissed at him. "If I die, then so does everyone I've wired. Every last bomb I've installed, every device I've set up. If I go, I'm taking Brockton Bay with me."

Alex stopped, and turned to Tattletale. She bit her lip as she used her power.

"She's _half_ telling the truth." She finally said. "The bombs in everyone's heads _are_ wired to her. Some kind of dead man's switch connected to her heart. If it stops beating, it activates. But the others are connected. They won't explode without someone pushing the buttons."

"Then we can't kill her." Swarm said. "We'll bring her to the PRT. They've got to have people who can disable it. Maybe if we…"

Alex didn't let her finish. He stabbed Bakuda in the chest with tendrils, letting his biomass worm its way into her. They found her heart easily enough, found the wires and circuits she had connected to it. He jabbed the heart, sending new messages to it.

Even as his biomass shut down and consumed the rest of her body, her heart continued beating steadily. He pulled it into his own body, creating space for it inside of himself. At the same time, he gorged on her brain. If she had bombs installed, he needed to learn where they were.

As he worked through the memories, he found something else.

It was definitely not natural to the human mind, an alien thing that he couldn't fully comprehend. It was as if someone – or some _thing_ – had driven a shard of glass into her brain. As he puzzled over it, it started tugging free. He tried to grab hold of it, but he couldn't keep hold. It slipped free, and vanished. As he returned to the outside world, he looked up as though he could _see_ it flying away. He looked back down to the see the Undersiders staring at him in shock and horror.

The people with the bombs, they just stood in terror as they waited to explode. They calmed down when nothing happened.

What had he just seen?

* * *

I didn't have a clue how to react. When I closed my eyes, I could still see Blacklight's tendrils sticking into Bakuda, her body turning into some blackish-red goop as he drank it up. Saw her heart hanging from a tendril, still beating. Him, pulling it into his body.

Blacklight wasn't just a sociopath. He was _worse_. He was a monster.

Tattletale gasped. "Biokinesis, adaptation and assimilation." She murmured, more to herself than to anyone in particular. But Blacklight looked up, as though he could hear her.

"What did you just say?" He asked her. He looked _exactly_ like Bakuda, her outfit and body copied perfectly. If I hadn't seen him devour her, I would've assumed that she had somehow survived his attack unharmed.

"Your power. You can manipulate your own body in ways I can't even imagine. And you can do even more, assimilate DNA. You using Bakuda's grenade launcher? That had to have been you getting some of her blood and using it to create her fingerprints. And just now?" She frowned as she tried to get something with her power. "You… You ate her brain. You copied it." Her eyes widened. "You know everything she knows. You _are_ Bakuda right now."

He kept watching her, a red wave of tendrils flowing up and down his body, so that Blacklight stood before them again. He then looked away, almost relaxing. "Yes. I do." He glanced at the crowd surrounding him. It was mostly people forced against their will. The ABB had started running. "These people shouldn't blow up anymore. The doctors can remove the bombs from them." He headed away, the rest of us moving to catch up to him.

I could tell from Regent's body language that he was smiling under his mask. "Dude, that was actually pretty cool. Fucked up in so many ways, but still awesome. The way her body just started changing so quickly…" He laughed. "Awesome." He repeated.

"Where are you leading us?" Grue asked, possibly more wary than before. And who wouldn't be? If what Tattletale said was true, he was even more dangerous than we thought. And he was already pretty damn high on my list.

"To our money." Blacklight responded, not looking back. "And your friend. Bakuda wanted to have all of you together before she finally killed the lot of you."

"But why? To show everyone that she's just as tough as Lung now that she was in charge?" Grue pondered.

"She wasn't. Lung was still in charge. And unless Oni Lee fucked up somehow, he should've busted Lung out of the PRT by now." He stopped before a locked container, a good distance away from the others. There was a device on the front, but he removed it in mere seconds.

Right. Bakuda must've installed it. He knew what she knew. Therefore, he already knew how to _un_ install it.

He tore the doors off with ease, the moonlight showing us what was inside. Lying next to a large stack of money was Rachel, tied up and angry. Beside her was one of her dogs, also tied up. Aside from the rise and fall of his chest, he wasn't moving. Blacklight stepped over her and started shoveling wads of money into his chest. A tendril lazily snapped Rachel's bindings. She glowered at him, rubbing her wrists. Then she undid the restraints around her dog.

"Who's this fucker?" She snapped at us, looking one second away from trying to fight him herself. We _had_ to stop her.

"Relax, Bitch." Tattletale said. "That's the guy who robbed the mansion with us. He's just got a new costume and name. Calls himself Blacklight now. He's just gonna grab his cut and go. Right?" She was looking at him as he kept shoving wads into his stomach.

He stopped and turned back to us. There was nothing on his front to suggest that he had an opening. "Yeah." He responded. In one hand was a dollar note, a number written on it. He handed it to her. "Here's the number I'm using. Keep it for yourself, or offer it to others. Just make it clear that I'm only interested in the cash at best. If they expect me to be a fucking lapdog or enforce something I don't like, there's gonna be hell to pay." And with that, he pushed past us and jumped away. He easily cleared ten stories before gliding through the air. When he landed on top of a building, he immediately pushed off, gaining even more speed. No doubt about it, he was powerful and _beyond_ dangerous. He would be a game changer in any struggle in Brockton Bay. And his ability to assimilate DNA and memories? Why bother interrogating people and trying to get a mole in someone's gang when he could do both at once?

Did he seriously just offer himself up as a mercenary for anyone willing to pay?

* * *

Alex made an anonymous tip off to the PRT about all the bombs Bakuda had hidden through Brockton Bay. About two hours later, it was all the news was talking about. The PRT managed to recover and disable dozens of bombs, find plenty of ABB strongholds. But unfortunately, the ABB managed to get away with enough bombs to be a problem. And Lung seemed determined to take over even without his Tinker. They launched dozens of attacks against everyone they could find. Empire Eighty-Eight, Coil, the PRT and the Protectorate, City Hall… A couple of times, Alex caught a few of them moving out around here, Molotov cocktails at the ready. He always dealt with them before anyone else realised they had shown up.

But most of the time, he was busy borrowing Dana's laptop and researching about the source of super powers.

He had never actually considered the possibility that he could 'take' powers for himself. In comics, powers could come from a variety of sources. Mutant genes, alien DNA, space rocks, magic, godly gifts, technology, even from just being good or evil or twisted enough. Even when they had first arrived here, and he saw the Wards fighting Hookwolf, he never actually thought that he could get them.

But he almost had. If he had reacted just a tiny bit faster, he could've kept whatever power helped Bakuda create her devices. Instead, he just got her memories. Memories, thoughts and blueprints with holes in them, places where her human mind couldn't figure things out and her power filled in the blanks. He was working to restore them, but some of the plans required rules and devices that simply didn't follow conventional rules.

So now here he was, looking up anything and everything he could find about the source of powers and what created them. So far, not much in concrete information. A lot of guesswork, a lot of assumption, a _hell_ of a lot more arguments. But there wasn't much that people were certain about. Well, apart from the Trigger Events. Everyone agreed that those were the catalysts. But no one could agree on what counted as a Trigger Event, or why they were needed in the first place.

Personally, he felt that the shards or whoever handed them out was drawn to despair. Whether to help them, or see what would happen if you give someone fucked over the power to get back their enemies. Small wonder the world was barely holding together.

But nothing he found suggested that they were 'shards'. Or that one could harvest them from a cape. Understandable really. If someone figured out a way to gain power, they'd keep it to themselves. Either to make sure only _they_ could obtain power; or to stop everyone from hunting each other. But if that were the case, then that meant he'd have to find out how by himself.

Testing on a resource that he loathed to waste too much of.

"Hey Alex." Dana said as she entered the room. "You almost done with my laptop?"

"Not quite." He admitted. He heard her lean over his shoulder, looking at the page he was viewing.

"Hmm. 'Parahumans: Where do they come from?' What's with the sudden interest in how Parahumans are made? Trying to figure them out a bit better."

He decided to tell her the truth. Ironically, for a being capable of completely changing his identity, he was terrible at lying. "When I consumed Bakuda, I found something in her head. I think it might've been her powers."

Dana gave him a funny look. "So just to be clear; you have the powers of a mad scientist/bomb anarchist in your head right now?"

He shook his head. "It got away from me. But it _has_ made me think. What if I _could_ gain powers from consuming? How would they interact with my biomass? How would I keep hold of them? Is there a limit to how many I can hold, or is it simply detrimental to my mental or physical well-being?" He stood up. "Besides, if I'm going to figure these things out, I can't use it on a valuable resource. I need to learn as much as I can before I start."

"Jesus, Alex. You're talking about finding capes and _killing_ them. For their power. Please tell me you're not going all Sylar on me now." He gave her a confused look. "Watch TV sometimes, Alex. I'm just worried that as soon as you find out how to harvest _one_ power, you're going to go on a murdering spree. Killing every cape you can get your claws on so you can… boost yourself."

He rested a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. I'm not interested in the attention that would bring me. If I come across a dying cape I'd harvest them. But I'm not going to go up against the Protectorate for the sake of having their powers."

Dana breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank fucking god. I guess that's _kinda_ one crisis averted." She gave him a hard look. "But seriously. If you _do_ find some way to keep powers, you let me know pronto. If I find out down the line that you've been killing capes without my say-so, I am going to be _pissed_."

He smirked at her. "Pissed enough to what, ground me?"

"Pissed enough to try and beat the ever-loving shit out of your viral ass."

"Ouch. In that case, I'll notify you ASAP." Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. And the only one they had was Alex's disposable. He quickly grabbed it, seeing an unidentified number on screen.

"Blacklight." He said as he answered, in his altered voice. Hopefully, the only kind of people ringing this number are the kind of people interested in hiring him.

"Ah, hello." A rich, charismatic voice said. It was the kind of voice used to being listened to, used to twisting people into its service. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Kaiser. I received that number you _generously_ handed to my men."

Alex shrugged, though he knew Kaiser couldn't hear it. "Maybe that'll teach your men to shut up and listen."

"Mmm." He could imagine Kaiser nodding. "Let's get the formalities out of the way. I assume that you know who I am and what my organisation believes in."

"Of course." Kaiser, leader of Empire Eighty-Eight. Has the power to create metal from any non-organic surface, shaping it as he pleased. Wore armour fitted with a crown. Initial psychological readings painted him as either a man willing to put his prejudices behind his goals, or someone just using them as an excuse.

"Excellent. Then I will be brief. I have called for a meeting between the local villain groups about the Azn' Bad Boys and the problems they are causing. As a powerful villain, I'd feel as though I'd do you a disservice by not inviting you along."

Alex frowned. "Personally, I don't really care about them. They don't bother me; I don't fuck them up. Bakuda and her men learnt that lesson the hard way."

"In that case, what if I paid you?" Alex stopped, his finger hovering over the 'end call' button.

"How much, and what for?" He asked.

"In exchange for working for me for the duration of this problem, I am willing to pay you five thousand dollars per problem you help solve. I'm afraid that until the meeting I can't be more specific, but I'm sure that you can connect the dots.

Five thousand dollars to deal with the ABB, or at least parts of them. Well, _that_ was certainly a reason to start caring.

"You don't try to get me to further your white supremacist bullshit, and I don't think we'll have many problems."

"Good. I'll text you the coordinates and time for our meeting. Of course, you are expected to arrive in uniform."

"Just make sure to pay me when this is all over." Alex said. And he hung up on him. A childish part of him enjoyed hanging up on one of the stronger leaders in Brockton Bay. The phone beeped as it received the text.

"So from your mention of white supremacist bullshit, I'm guessing that Kaiser just hired your services."

Alex nodded. "Apparently the ABB have gotten to be a big enough problem for even the villains to take notice of. He's organised a meeting with every noteworthy villain in the city."

"Yeah, there's been cases like this. Not just when the Endbringers show up, but other times too. Anyone starts causing too much trouble, or breaks the unwritten rules of capes, everyone bands together to put them down."

"What kind of rules do villains have? I thought the point of being a villain was that you do whatever you want."

"It is. But there _are_ still some rules. Mostly about standards. No raping the other side. No child porn. No talking in cinemas. Things like that."

"So it's ok to murder a man, burn him alive, or beat him to death, but it's not ok to be monstrous about it? Sounds weird to me."

Dana shrugged. "I suppose it's just one of those things people do here. Keep some form of trust between the good guys and the bad guys. Because without it, the Endbringers get ten times more dangerous." Alex nodded, checking the text he got. The meeting was scheduled for after the sun went down.

"Bring me a list of the biggest groups in Brockton Bay. I want to be prepared for when I meet them."

* * *

Before I joined up in the villain business; before we even got a message from Kaiser calling for a meeting; I never really knew that there was a pub somewhere in Brockton Bay catered only to villains. Or that it was in a place so off the beaten path and so out of the way, that I would've missed it if I hadn't been with the others when I came across it.

Which I guess is the whole point of choosing here.

The outside of 'Somer's Rock' was in disrepair. The paint was peeling and there was rust everywhere. The only _slightly_ new things about it were the iron bars over the windows. Even the curtains behind them were tatty. Inside wasn't much better. Everything was either faded, stained, had food splatter on it, or all three. I felt that someone like Kaiser had better class than this place. We ignored the tables that had been pushed together in the center of the room, and seated ourselves at one of the booths attached to the walls. Once we were all comfortable, we waited for the others to arrive. The serving girl, a severe-looking lady with a nasty scowl, dropped a notepad at our table.

"Can I get a coke?" I asked her nervously, thankful that my expression was hidden behind my mask. She just glared at me, as though I had somehow insulted her. Did she hate coke or something? Was I expected to drink only alcohol?

"She's deaf, Swarm." Tattletale explained. "If you want something, you write it on the pad here." She gestured to the pad, where Grue, Regent, and Bitch had already written orders.

Oh. I followed her advice and wrote my order on after them, the girl leaving with an even uglier look on her face. You'd think I'd be used to it by now, hanging with Bitch. But Bitch was _built_ for scowling. This girl wasn't.

As for my name, turns out that the PRT had decided to dub me 'Swarm' as a codename. Given all the trouble I had coming up with a name, it wasn't the worst I had thought of. And it fitted my villain identity. I'd have to come up with something else though, when I join the Wards. Maybe something friendlier. Or at least something that didn't make people think of creepy things.

We must've been early, because everyone else came in at about the same time.

Kaiser led the front of it, two bombshells in his arms. I knew them as Fenja and Menja. Valkyrie-themed warriors, able to grow in size. The larger they got, the less effective attacks were against them. Behind him was Purity, along with several other capes. I had heard rumours that she left Empire Eighty-Eight to try and be a hero. A racist white-supremacist hero. I couldn't think of why she'd join her old gang again. Then again, Fog and Night had set gone and made their own little team, yet here they were following her.

They had only just seated when Coil entered the room. A newcomer, Coil was well-known for hiring mostly ex-military private contractors to work for him. He had apparently ditched them tonight, coming here alone. He was dressed in a suit that showed off more of his skeleton than his skin, a white snake slithering down to his ankle.

When I found out that every major villain was coming, I thought to ask Lisa to help me do some research on everyone.

After him was Faultline, a mercenary group a lot like Blacklight. Only she had a team and she wasn't a psychotic monster. Her power was that she could shatter anything she touched that wasn't organic. Not quite as flashy as some powers, but she put it to good use. Behind her was her team, people whose appearance… stood out. Case 53s they were called, though I didn't know why. Newter was pretty much like a human gecko, with a long tail and orange skin. Haven't really heard what his power is yet. The same went for Gregor the Snail. You'd feel sorry for him if you passed him on the street. Morbidly obese, no hair whatsoever, able to see his bones and organs beneath his skin, and his body covered in scales, like barnacles.

Both of them had an Omega symbol on their person.

Behind them was the rest of Faultline's crew. Labyrinth and Spitfire. Labyrinth wore a green robe and a mask with lines on it; Spitfire wore a black and red costume with a gas mask. I hadn't really seen either of them in battle, though their powers weren't too hard to guess. As Faultline sat down by Kaiser (taking the time to pass by us and sneer as she went) Grue stood up and joined the others. Now that we weren't alone anymore, it was ok to sit at the big kid's table.

"What was that about?" I asked Tattletale once Faultline passed.

She gave me a thin smile in return. "Nothing important. Just likes to think she's smarter than me. Got on my bad side when she poached Spitfire before we got to her. Now we don't really like each other."

"But what happened to make it like that?" I asked.

"Nothing. Important." She stressed. She pointed a finger at the table. "Besides, I think you might have bigger concerns than my little feud with Faultline." I turned to see what she meant. Behind my mask, my jaw dropped.

Sitting to the right of Kaiser, taking up the last seat of the table, was Blacklight.

I don't know how he did it. I don't know when he had entered, or moved to the chair, or even how long he had been waiting. But there he was, sitting with the others. I saw people casting glances at him, eyes calculating.

"What is _he_ doing here?" I asked angrily, but quietly.

"His first appearance was taking down Glory Girl; his most recent one was killing Bakuda." Tattletale explained. "He's gained some notoriety lately. Guess Kaiser must've hired him."

I looked suspiciously at her. She was the one who had his number last. "And just how did _he_ learn it?"

"He left several other papers with other crooks. Guess he didn't trust us to spread the word." Any other words we were planning on having – or at least _I_ was planning on having – were interrupted by a late arrival.

Skidmark and his crew. Easily considered the _nastiest_ bunch of villains in Brockton Bay, just by appearance and personality. Former drug users and sellers, Skidmark himself was a sleazy bastard. You sort of respect people like Kaiser for being incredibly powerful and charismatic. You respected people like Faultline for being professionals. You respect people like Purity for at least cleaning up some of the streets. You even liked Uber and Leet, if only because they're so pathetic. Skidmark was _not_ respected in the least. Ugly, foul-mouthed, and disgusting. I didn't understand why Kaiser would've included _him_ in his invite list.

His teeth were mostly rotten, and his lips were chapped. Thankfully, the top half of his face was covered by his mask. He swaggered up the top table, but stopped when Kaiser kicked the nearest chair to the floor.

"What the fucking fuck is this?" He asked. Like I said; foul-mouthed.

Kaiser looked up in his direction. "Ah, Skidmark. I see that you managed to make it here." You could hear the coldness in his voice. "It's times like this that I wished I had the means of calling for general meetings that didn't reach every scumbag looking to act big and tough. Scum like you."

"Fuck you." Skidmark responded. "You're only getting bitchy because I'm black. I bet if I was one of your pale-ass bitches I'd be getting respect."

"No, you wouldn't. All you would end up doing is making me regret that we're both of the same race." He waved a hand to the others already sitting at the table. "These people? I don't like most of them for one reason of another. But I respect them enough to talk to them as equals. You however, aren't worthy of anything but disgust."

"Yeah? What about these two shitheads?" Skidmark pointed at Grue and Blacklight." How come _they_ get your fucking respect? The skull freak's barely a glorified henchman." He glowered at Blacklight. "And who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

"Our first new member is Grue of the Undersiders." Faultline spoke up. "His group has gone up against Lung several times before and managed to get away with minimal injuries. A better track record than most." She nodded at Blacklight. "And that one is Blacklight. He is the man who robbed the Bay Central Bank." She turned back to Skidmark. "The one whose first outing led to him beating Glory Girl in a fight."

Skidmark snorted. "And that's supposed to impress me? That he took down some oversexed bimbo too dumb to know when to spread her legs and bend over? He's a has-been." I saw Blacklight turn to Kaiser. Kaiser nodded once. Blacklight got up from his chair and walked towards Skidmark.

"You have a choice, Skidmark." He said, his voice even deeper than before. I swear I could hear it echo. "You can shut up and sit down at a booth with the rest of your team, or I can toss all three of you out the door. If you're lucky, you can crawl away afterwards."

Skidmark backed away a step, but I saw a sneer on his face. "You haven't got a fucking clue who you're shitting with, do you?"

"If I actually knew _anything_ about you, it's because you'd be someone worth knowing about."

"Well then you're gonna learn all about me after this."

"You could say that." Blacklight responded. Skidmark pointed a finger at the ground beneath Blacklight's feet, and the ground started changing colour. The side nearest Skidmark turned a deep violet; the other side turned pale blue. Blacklight stumbled as his feet shot out from under him, forcing him away. He steadied himself with one hand, Skidmark laughing loudly. Blacklight stepped towards him again, but as soon as a foot touched the glowing ground it was forced back.

So he changed his approach. Six giant tendrils erupted from his back, curling over to stab the ground. They thickened and swelled in several places, until they were enough to lift his body. Spider legs. He had created spider limbs to walk on.

They stepped around the glowing ground, and Blacklight was lifting Skidmark by the neck. He gagged and gurgled, trying to break free. But his grip was like iron.

"You are truly pathetic." Kaiser said, sounding calm as Skidmark started changing shades. "In anyone else's hands, that power of yours might be useful. In yours, however, it's too weak to even be a threat. If I didn't think that you aren't worth starting up a gang war over, I'd let Blacklight here break your scrawny neck and be done with you. But fortunately for you, there are rules I have to follow on this hallowed ground. And besides, you're not even worth the trouble." He nodded to Blacklight again. "Release him."

Blacklight watched Skidmark for several uncomfortable moments, the crook's skin turning mottled purple before he released him. Skidmark fell to the ground, gasping for breath. He glared up at Blacklight, but didn't get back up.

"You're only alive because Kaiser won't pay me if I kill you." Blacklight said. "But you try anything like that again, and I will show you just where you stand compared to me." He thrusted his head towards the booths. "Get."

Skidmark wiped at his mouth as he got up. "Cunt-sucking, limp dick motherfuckers." He spat. But he did as he was told. Blacklight retracted his spider limbs and moved to sit back down, when the door opened to the streets.

"Ah. Looks like I made it just in time." A male voice said. Everyone turned towards him. He was dressed in a black suit with a red mask and top hat, like an eviler Baron Samadi. Behind him were his teammates, also dressed in red and black. There was a girl with a sun symbol on her, a well-built man with a square mask, and something… else. If I had to describe it, the best I could do would be a hairless gorilla wearing a vest and leggings.

Coil nodded to their leader. "You must be the Travelers, I take it. You're not exactly local."

"You're right. We consider ourselves to be nomadic instead. But I heard rumours of what's going on here, and I thought we might drop in. Call me Trickster."

"You know the rules for here?" Grue asked.

"It should be the same as other places. No fighting, no powers, no baiting, or everyone buddies up to put you into the ground." I looked at Skidmark. He had broken at least one of those rules."

Grue shrugged. "More or less. We'd offer you a chair, but we don't…"

"Blacklight." Kaiser interrupted him. The monster himself was in the middle of sitting back down. Instead, he pushed the chair aside and moved beside Kaiser. Tendrils stretched out behind his legs and back, binding together and fusing into a shape. When it was done, he sat down in a chair made from his own body matter. Trickster grabbed the now vacant chair and sat down, legs resting on the table top. I heard Skidmark make a noise, but a look from Blacklight stopped him. He settled for seething in his booth.

Kaiser steepled his fingers. "Well then, aside from _unwanted_ company," and he glanced at Skidmark, "that should be everyone of note in Brockton Bay. I trust we all know what this meeting is about."

Coil nodded. "The ABB."

"Indeed. They have become rabid dogs, lashing out at everyone within range. Dozens of people from all over have been killed by them, with at least another hundred wounded from either confrontations or explosives. They've taken to attacking our businesses and bombed any building they think is linked to us. City Hall has placed the PRT onto the streets, eager to fire at anyone who looks suspicious. It has been a little bit inconvenient, to be honest."

"They're being reckless." Faultline said. She made it sound as bad as killing newborns.

"They are." Coil said. "They can't possibly hope to keep this up forever. Eventually they will bite off more than they can chew, and the ABB will be swept away by the combined might of their enemies. Normally we'd just ignore them and await that day. But Homeland Security and even the military have been called in. Heroes from other cities have flocked here to aid the local Protectorate. Such things make doing business… difficult."

Kaiser nodded. "Which is why I called for this meeting." He leaned forward. "I propose a ceasefire between all of us present, and we instead devote our efforts to wiping out the ABB as quickly as possible. Obviously, such a truce also extends to the law as well. After this meeting, I will contact authorities and inform them that we will restrict all illegal activities aside from what is absolutely essential to our business, and that we will ensure that all those who operate in our territories do the same. That way, the police and military can focus their full might on wiping out the ABB. We in turn shall not attempt any power grabs, infighting, insults or attacks between ourselves until we have obtained victory."

My group will only get involved if we're being paid to." Faultline said. "We follow the status quo anyway, but if the ABB hire us, then we'll be all too willing to do what we're getting paid for."

"Unfortunate, but understandable." Coil said. "Perhaps you and I can come to an agreement after this meeting." He turned to Blacklight. "And what about you? Are you of the same mind as Faultline?"

Blackline shrugged. "Kaiser's paying me to give a damn about all this. I wouldn't be involved otherwise. So consider me an enemy of the ABB."

Coil nodded. "Wonderful."

"My group and I were already planning on something like that, after Bakuda attacked us. We've got no problem with the rules." Grue said.

"Same here." Trickster added. "My group is in."

"Good. In that case, Blacklight has something he'd like to share." Kaiser said. Everyone looked at Blacklight again. He looked up at them, before tendrils flowed up and down his body. Bakuda sat before them, still dressed in the suit she had been wearing when she died.

I shuddered as I remembered the sounds he made as he ate her.

"My powers give me an interesting way to… interrogate my enemies." He said in her mechanical voice. "I was rather hoping I could keep this secret, but I guess this is important enough."

"How much did you manage to get out of her?" Faultline asked.

"Everything. I know where all the bombs were stashed; what they can do; how many members were forcibly recruited into the ABB, their stronghold locations… everything."

"Useful. And worrying." Coil replied. I could see what he meant. If what Tattletale said was true, he could make anyone tell him all their dirty secrets.

Blacklight shrugged. "Tough. You'll just have to make sure I don't have a reason to hunt you down. I'll hand over everything to Kaiser, and he can divvy it up how he pleases."

Kaiser nodded. Blacklight had just handed him a lot of power now. "Excellent. Now, unless anyone here has any grievances they'd like to voice…?"

"I've got a fucking grievance…"

"Anyone _besides_ Skidmark." Blacklight grew some claws, and Skidmark went silent.

"I've got a complaint." Someone said from Kaiser's group. Hookwolf. A killer who had escaped custody several times. If you didn't fit his strict ideas of Aryan purity, then he'd murder you on the spot. He was the second person here after Blacklight I was worried about.

And he was staring at _our_ group.

"Your dog lover, Hellhound, fucked with my business last night. Set her animals on _my_ customers. Only the fact I wasn't there at the time saved her from becoming a stain on my walls." He was growling now, a second away from jumping at us.

Grue shrugged, a picture of calm if he wasn't billowing more darkness than normal. "That's one of the risks you run in Brockton Bay. You set up something, you can't guarantee that some hero or villain won't get in your way."

"It's about fucking respect. You got a problem with me, with how I'm doing things? You let me know first so that I can decide if I want to move shop."

Bitch snorted. "And give you warning that I'm coming? Fuck that. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. I don't care where you try to hide, if I catch you running another dogfighting ring, I'll fuck that one up too."

Oh. _That's_ what this is all about. I glanced at Tattletale and Grue. It didn't look like either of them had known about this until now.

Kaiser spoke up. "Undersiders, is that a declaration of war? Should I order Blacklight to deal with you?"

"No need." Grue replied. "We're not declaring war on anyone other than the ABB. But I'm not going to stop her from doing what she has to."

"Won't, or can't?" Grue didn't have an answer for that. He wasn't our official leader. Just the closest one we had for meetings like this. If he addressed Bitch as a subordinate, then he'd be pissing her off.

If he didn't, then he make himself look weak in front of every other villain in the city.

Grue leaned forward, hands clasped together. A dark mockery of Kaiser's position. "Plenty of capes have their own little pet issues. Your people wouldn't be too happy if you forbade them from beating up and harassing gays. It's the same thing here. You hurt dogs, Bitch will come to fuck you over. It's kind of common knowledge around here."

Blacklight shifted in his seat. "That's enough, Hookwolf. Just fucking drop it already." Hookwolf shifted his glare from Bitch to him.

He growled deeply. "You don't get to give me orders, mercenary."

"I also don't give a shit about your problems. The ABB are what's important right now, and I'm gonna get pissed off with _anyone_ not dealing with them. You work for Kaiser; he said he's going to devote his efforts to destroying them. So shut the fuck up about your dogfighting ring until after they've been dealt with." He was standing up now, getting right in Hookwolf's face.

Grue nodded. "That sounds like a better idea than arguing about it all night."

"Agreed." Kaiser replied. "Very well then; we'll set it aside for later. But I _will_ have a response from you then." He nodded to the others. "Meeting adjourned."

Everyone stood up. Some, like Kaiser and his group, headed for the door. Coil stood with Faultline discussing something important. Blacklight had already left the building. Grue marched over to us, but he didn't sit down.

"Let's get out of here." He simply said.

* * *

"Hey Alex." Dana said as he walked in. "So how did the meeting go?"

He shrugged, setting down in his chair. He had modified it to withstand his greater mass. It still groaned as he leaned back in it. "Pretty much like you said. He got everyone to agree to a truce until the ABB have been dealt with. All the big names were there. Coil, Faultline, the Undersiders. A new group called the Travelers joined in too. And some piece of shit named Skidmark."

"Ew. Heard about _him_. Fucking asshole."

"No one there liked him. Kaiser was _almost_ willing to let me kill him on the spot for fucking with me."

"Yeah well, you're gonna have to put all that aside for a moment. A letter came in the mail about you." She grabbed a piece of paper from beside her laptop, handing it over to him. He looked through it carefully.

"'To Miss Dana Mercer.'" He read aloud. "'This letter is to inform you of a school meeting in regards to Alexander Ragland's attack on several students on the 16th of April. You are both required to attend to discuss his actions that day. The meeting shall be held on school grounds on the 24th of April. Failure to attend could result in expulsion for Alexander.'" He looked up at her, eyebrow raised. "They've finally gotten around to dealing with me beating up the bullies?"

She nodded. "And they sent one out to Danny too. Apparently he and Taylor have to attend due to 'allegations that this was due to a possible act of bullying'."

He shrugged. "So Taylor and I go in. We tell them what's been happening, the bullies get punished, and things end well. Simple."

"I don't think it's going to work out like that, Alex. It wouldn't normally, considering it's just your word against some manipulative bitches. But there's also the fact that one of the bullies is Shadow Stalker, according to you."

"She is. I recognised her fighting style from the robbery."

"Then yeah, things aren't going to be simple."

"What do you mean?" He frowned. "She's in the wrong."

"She is. But… Look, you already know that villains outnumber the heroes. And heroes are limited to non-lethal force. But because of those factors, they're really determined to keep hold of as many 'heroes' as they can. I've been having a look at Sophia's record. She's been suspended several times before, yet the PRT haven't done shit. She just keeps coming back. I think they might be brushing things under the rug so that they don't have to throw her into juvie."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me. She's made Taylor's life a living hell. Caused her to have a Trigger Event. And the heroes are seriously going to just ignore that because it would be 'inconvenient'?"

"Maybe." She admitted. Alex fought to keep his temper under control. Christ, if this was what the justice system was like, no wonder this world was so fucked up. Even _he_ would expect some kind of punishment if he was on the heroes' side. "Plus, Emma Banes comes from a well-off family. Money is usually a good way to get people to ignore bad behaviour." She shook her head ruefully. "We've got our work cut out for us."

"Then I'd better start preparing a damn good defence." He replied.

* * *

 **Yep, Blacklight is now officially on the scene. And who better to pick his first appearance against than Bakuda?**

 **I know that in the original story she's the only reason the ABB can keep on going for so long, given that she's installed bombs in peoples' heads. But I just knew that there was no way she was gonna leave a fight with Alex alive. So I had to imply that the ABB have enough muscle to still cause trouble to get this alliance on. I mean, it's a good reason to have Alex flexing his muscles. Or at least, getting** _ **paid**_ **to flex them. Otherwise, the Alex I'm creating wouldn't get involved otherwise. He's only interested in the cash to ensure Dana doesn't live on the streets. Beyond that, and Taylor's situation, he doesn't care about much else.**

 **And for those of you who have been wondering, I'm still deciding if I want Alex to gain extra powers or not.**

… **Ok, that's actually a lie. I've already decided. I just didn't want to spoil it just yet.**

 **But yeah, I decided that I don't actually mind him being even more broken than normal. Make him scarier, make him a bigger threat. Besides, it kinda gives him a reason to not** _ **immediately**_ **kill every cape he comes across. He'll want to investigate their power, see if they're worth collecting; wait until he's got a better time to harvest it.**

 **I want to apologise if the scene at the bar felt a bit stilted. I was trying to find a way to do that scene without writing it down almost word for word. that's why Kaiser's the one talking the most. I figured that he was the one organising the meeting, so he'd be the chairman so to speak. As for the bomb that warped Alex, the 'Vista' bomb if you will, I _really_ wanted to use that. Mainly because Bakuda said that there was no cure to it, and I figured that Alex would be the exception. I'm sure Panacea might be able to fix it too, but we don't know for sure.**

 **Now then, time for questions.**

 **How many powers do you guys think Alex should be able to hold and use at once?**

 **How many people do you think are living in Brockton Bay after Leviathan's attack? I'd assume that it'd be something like hundreds of thousands rather than the millions of a bigger city, but I just want to hear how many you guys think.**

 **What kind of ratings would you think the PRT would give Alex? I'm looking at the classifications right now, and this is just what I think they might go with. Mover 3-4, Shaker 2-5 (from his devastators), Breaker 1-2 (because of his dense biomass), Brute 9-10 (obviously), Blaster 2 maybe, Thinker 5, Shifter 10 (also obviously), Stranger 5. I'm probably going to get a variety of answers, but together they could help me find a better number for each classification.**

 **That's all for now; might have some next chapter.**


	4. Step 4 - Steal Someone's Powers

**Wow, I am on fire with this story. I think it's because I'm so interested in it right now, got some really good ideas that I want to get written down before I forget them. Or maybe it's because this all flows together so well. Point is, you guys get yet another chapter to read. And depending on where you live, a Christmas present from me.**

 **(Not in a literal sense. I mean this chapter as a present. Not rich enough to give everyone a** _ **real**_ **present.)**

 **Now, some people said some interesting things for the last chapter. Thanks to everyone for that. Now, first off is the amount of powers he can have at once. I agree with people who think that he technically doesn't have an upper limit on how many he can hold at once. But I also think that would be ludicrous to have him using every power he has all at the same time. Since Worm likes the use of threes, I think I will too. Alex will only use three powers at once, mainly because they could… I dunno, cross streams or something like that. Maybe they don't mesh well with a hive mind. It'll definitely be that he doesn't want to put all his powers into one body, just in case someone completely destroys it. Have to think some more about that.**

 **One guest said that Alex could theoretically convert anything into biomass. Now, that** _ **sounds**_ **awesome, but I'm going to have to nix that. I'm going to stick with the idea that anything** _ **organic**_ **based can be converted into biomass. It makes a bit more sense to me that way. Yes, he could eat metal. But would you really expect him to turn metal into biomass? Great idea though.**

 **Cauldron supplied powers will be even easier for Alex to take, since he doesn't need a Trigger Event to lock them in. They'd probably latch onto his brain quickly and easily, instead of fighting to break free.**

 **Thank you jrbless for the numbers. That's going to be really useful later on. You'll have to wait and see why, but it will be worth it. BSDude, thank you for pointing out the Striker power. I completely forgot about that.**

 **Ok then. Let's get into the story itself.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Step 4 – Steal Someone's Power… Without Asking First**

Being asked to arrive at a specific time only to end up waiting is a big pet peeve of mine.

Being left sitting with an incredibly violent kid is another.

Yet here I was, sitting outside the principal's office with my dad, Alex Ragland sitting next to me, as we waited for over thirty minutes for the teachers to get prepared.

Coming back home from the meeting, only to find out that my dad and I had been asked to attend a meeting about Alex, had been a pretty nasty shock. I mean, why did they even _want_ me there? Was it because I was the only other person still standing after the fighting (if you could even call it that)? Was it because Alex acted like a dark knight saving a damsel in distress? Or did someone _finally_ notice that they had all been bullying me, and the fight just made it too public to avoid any longer?

I didn't know. And I didn't like it.

As soon as they asked, I had told them that Sophia, Emma, and Madison were the ringleaders of the group. They couldn't fit all the girls he had smashed into the same room, so they simply decided to select the most important ones instead. Madison and Emma were already waiting, Emma's dad talking to Madison's parents. I think he was trying to placate them, ease their fears. But I noticed them glancing in our direction, fear evident in their eyes.

Dad coughed loudly. "So, Dana." He said, trying to ease the tension in our little area. "I take it your brother isn't joining us?"

She gave him a thin smile. "Alex has even worse anger problems than Ragland, if that's actually possible. I made him stay home because if he was here, we'd have to have him restrained." She sighed. "I love the guy, but he's way too quick to beat the living shit out of anything he sees as a problem."

Dad nodded, understanding. "Not exactly helpful in this situation."

"No. It isn't." She looked up at the clock before rolling her eyes again. Alexander's leg was shaking. I get the feeling that he doesn't like being kept waiting for anything. She turned to look at me. "Don't worry, Taylor. Those bitches aren't going to get away with this."

I gave her a wary look in return. "Did… Do you have any idea what they _have_ done?" I asked.

"Kinda. I know about the… the locker incident." She shook her head. "That was _beyond_ fucking insane." She was about to say more, but Sophia had finally shown up. With someone who clearly wasn't her mother. White skin, blond hair, blue eyes. A guardian maybe? A councilor or something?

Whatever. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I won't have to deal with any of them anymore.

The lot of us – me, dad, Dana, Alexander, Emma and her dad, Madison and her parents, and Sophia and _her_ guardian – all followed the principal to the guidance counselor's offices. Insider one room was an oval table, shaped a lot like an egg. Dad and I sat at the tip of the egg; the teachers and the trio sat at the other end. Dana and Alex sat next to me, the boy glowering at the girls. They in turn wilted under his gaze. Except for Sophia. She seemed to be daring him to try again.

I was still feeling nervous. I had admitted to Dad that I missed some classes; I didn't want a repeat of what happened with Bitch, where we dropped the ball because I didn't say something. But I was still worried. Worried that this would go wrong. Worried that they'd get away with what they've done. And that all I did was piss them off.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming on such short notice." The principal said. "We are here to discuss the circumstances and the lead up to the events that resulted in Alexander Ragland attacking and injuring several of our students. Are also here because we've been lead to believe that a different incident with another student led to the fight breaking out. She had named Miss Emma Banes, Madison Clements, and Sophia Hess as the 'ringleaders' of these incidents." She looked down at her papers. "Miss Herbert, you are the initial victim?"

"That's me." I said.

"And the initial individuals accused of bullying are the three girls I just mentioned?"

"Yes."

"And the perpetrator of the frankly _vicious_ attack… Alexander Ragland?"

"You call it an attack. I call it justice." He said. Dana placed a hand on his shoulder, and he took a deep breath.

"Very well then. Perhaps it might be best to gain an understanding of the events that happened. From the eye witnesses we've already talked to, it sounds as though Alexander walked up to the girls and started attacking them without provocation. Is this true?"

Emma, Madison, and Sophia all said yes, right as Alex said no. The teachers looked between them, as if almost puzzled. But I could see the smirk on Emma's face. She already felt like she won. And no wonder. She was a good student, part of a rich family, and beautiful. Alexander was a moody and violent new kid. I knew who they'd believe first.

Dana cleared her throat. "Alexander takes to recording conversations he believes are worth fighting over, due to incidents like this. Maybe it might help clear up matters if he plays them?" Recorder? No one mentioned a recorder before. The trio certainly were surprised by this. The principal nodded, and Alex pulled out an old recorder from his jacket. It looked like it had been well-used. He pressed play, and it started making a jumble of sounds before clearing up.

"I'm surprised that you actually showed your face, Taylor." Emma's voice came through perfectly. There was some chatter in the background, but it wasn't distracting or anything. How had he been close enough to record any of it? "Honestly, you could've crawled under a rock and died, and no one would even notice."

"Yeah." Madison said meanly. "Everyone would probably be happy that you're gone. Start up a public holiday. Ding dong, the loser is dead." I saw Madison and Emma glance at each other. They were worried. This was the perfect evidence. More voices joined in. I could remember each and every insult.

"She's probably been off whoring her body to get a boyfriend. Can't imagine any guy willing to pay to sleep with her." Another voice said. One of the girls that had joined in afterwards.

Another laughed. "Probably got lice and STDs everywhere. She's so disgusting."

"I know of a few boys who'd sleep with the garbage before going anywhere _near_ her."

"What a waste of space. Why don't you eat some glass and drink some acid, do everyone a favour?"

"I don't know. I'd think she'd be better off dunking her head in acid. It'll make her better looking at least." Alex hit stop on it. The room was completely silent. But then he remembered something, and pressed play again. More insults started playing, and then there was the sound of flesh hitting flesh. In the playback, I grunted. And then you could hear something hitting the ground.

The moment when Sophia slapped me down.

"My god." Dad whispered. I felt guilty, for making him feel so much pain. But telling him at the time wouldn't have done any good. It would've just made him explode. And I didn't want to see that happen again. "Taylor, _this_ is what you've been dealing with?"

I nodded, stomach churning. But a niggling thought came to mind. Those voices in the background… They were all wrong. They didn't sound like students walking through the halls after class. They sounded more like people walking through a mall. But then that would imply that Alex somehow perfectly recreated the insults in their voices, all on his own.

Then I remembered a Changer I knew of.

"…Inconclusive." Alan Banes said shakily. "That could've been faked." I saw Alex clenching his seat.

I could sympathise. I felt my blood boiling. Insects pressed against the edges of my mind.

"Alan, this isn't one of your court rooms." Dad said angrily. "This isn't a place where you can try and twist the situation with your words. We have _hard_ _evidence_ that those three have been tormenting my daughter." He crossed his arms. "And frankly, I'm disgusted that this had apparently been going on for so long."

"Excuse me, but I thought we were here to discuss _his_ actions." Mr. Clements said, shooting a glare at Alexander. "Madison was sent to the hospital thanks to his attack. All her ribs on her left side were broken. She's been forced to wear a cast since then, and she's been in constant pain."

"We get that." Dana spoke. "But Alex attacked your daughter because she had been bullying someone else. He had a f… damn good reason for hurting her. He'll get some punishment for his vigilante justice. But I think that right now, we need to discuss these three." She glared at the trio. Madison looked away. Emma went pale – or maybe she was _still_ pale. Only Sophia was glaring back. Always her.

The principal spoke now. "I'm afraid that I don't see any evidence that this is part of an ongoing incident. It sounds more as though this was a one-time event. Perhaps Miss Herbert could…"

"It _has_ been ongoing." I interrupted her. With that evidence, with how damning it was? I wasn't going to let this slip me by. "It's been happening since last year." The trio were now glaring at me, as though daring me to continue. But they didn't scare me. I had seen a man _eat_ someone alive. Compared to that, they weren't anywhere _near_ as scary. "I even made a list of everything they had done."

And so I read them out. Every event that happened on September the eighth. Yes; I had a whole list for a single day. The principal tried to speak over me when I moved onto the next day. I ignored her and spoke louder. I got up to September the tenth before I was stopped.

By the sound of cracking wood.

Alex was gripping his arm rests so tightly that they were splintering under his hands. His teeth were bared, and he was shaking with rage. He was now partially out of his chair. The only thing I could see stopping him from jumping at the trio was Dana holding him down with both hands.

I knew it. It was him. Alexander Ragland was Blacklight.

I had the biggest monster (literally) in Brockton Bay sitting next to me.

"Alex." Dana said reproachfully. She leaned in and whispered something to him. He visibly forced himself to calm down, before sitting back down on the chair.

But not before turning to the trio and growling. "You sick fucks." He hissed angrily.

Alan was quaking slightly. Perhaps it was the accusations, and how damning they were. Or maybe it was that Blacklight had terrified him so much. "H-H-How many of these incidents can you actually _prove_ happened? Are there witnesses, alibis even? This could simply be minor events blown out of proportion."

" _Blown out of proportion!?_ " Great. Now Dad was shouting too. "Alan, are you even listening to yourself? Even if – _if_ – Taylor is seeing more to these events that there is, even if one in _ten_ of these events have been happening, this is still clearly a long campaign of severe abuse."

"Can we _please_ get back on track?" Mr. Clements asked.

"We _are_ on track." Dana said testily. "It's just that we've moved to the heart of the problem here. And I am disgusted that no one bothered to look into this. That in an entire school, no one had the balls to actually say something."

"Please, enough!" The principal shouted. That all got us to be quiet. She took a deep breath. "We could argue about this all day and not come to a proper conclusion. Perhaps it would be easier to just cut to the chase. What exactly would we all like to see happening to make sure everyone left satisfied?"

I turned to my dad, and we both nodded. He told me that whenever he was going to discuss things as spokesperson, he always entered with a clear goal in mind.

"Transfer me to Arcadia High." I said.

"See that this boy is expelled." Mr. Clements said around the same time.

Blacklight waited until we were finished speaking. "I want those three to be punished. Severely."

We all looked at each other. Their side was obviously confused by my choice.

"I'd have thought you'd want them expelled." The principal said. "Most would suggest that."

"No." I said firmly. "Expelling them is a reward. They'd get to go to Arcadia instead. And since they're not enrolled, they'd get past the waiting list to ensure they have an education. And in the meantime, they get to be on holiday. They'd get to come here and bully me even more."

"You think going to Arcadia is a reward." The principal said. I'm certain she was insulted.

"Yes. Arcadia's got standards. They don't have drugs, or gangs, or violence. They have a budget; they have a reputation to uphold. If I got bullied there, I could at least go to the faculty for help."

"And is that _all_ you want?" Alan asked me.

I shook my head. "Alex's right. They need to be punished."

"Exactly." Dana said. "Alex and I would want to see them with an in-school suspension. No privileges. No going to the dance, no computers, no sport teams."

"But Sophia is our best runner in field and track." The principal argued.

"So you're admitting that you care more about sports than about being fair to all students?"

"That's not what I'm saying."

"Sounds like it to me."

"In-school suspension would cost resources we just don't have." Mr. Gladly said. "And it would also mean that they'd have to take remedial classes as well. I think that's a bit much."

"I agree." That was Sophia's guardian. "Track gives Sophia structure in her life. Taking it away from her would only see a decline in her behaviour."

"What behaviour?" Blacklight asked. "It's not like she can get any _worse_."

"Let's draw this to a close." The principal said quickly. "Now, given the evidence provided, I can tell that there _has_ been some bullying going on. But your suggestion would cost resources we don't have; impact their education. It seems far too much for what's happened. I propose a two week suspension instead."

"No." I said firmly. "I already told you. That just means that they'd get to go on holiday and come back here to ruin my life again."

"And you believe that it is perfectly fine to ruin their education instead? As the saying goes, 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'."

I saw Dana glancing at Blacklight. I could tell that his teeth are longer now. He was shaking violently.

How much longer can his self-control last before he started killing them?

I stood up instead. "Whatever. Fine. Reward them for making my life hell. Just send me to Arcadia instead."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I don't have the clearance…"

"You can _try_." I was almost pleading now, on top of pushing my bugs away.

"I don't like making promises I can't keep." She replied. Classic double speak for 'no'.

Mr. Madison cleared his throat. "As for the boy?"

"Yes. Thank you." She seemed relieved to be talking about something else. "Now, I understand that he had a _reason_ for his attack. But this school does not tolerate violence against anybody. If you felt that you had a good reason, you should've come up to a member of the faculty, and…"

"Fuck the faculty." He growled, standing up. "You bastards wouldn't have lifted a finger to help her. Fine then. Kick me out. Expel me already. I don't want _shit_ to do with this school and its self-serving bureaucracy anyway." He booted his chair into the wall hard enough to crack it, before stomping out through the door. He slammed it hard enough that I could hear it break free of the hinges, falling the floor. Dana glared at all of them before she moved to follow him out.

That just left me, Dad, and them.

Well fuck it. If I wasn't going to get anything in compensation, then what's the point of staying? I got up and followed them out.

* * *

Dana found Alex in the carpark, pacing round and round while clenching his hands. She was glad that he didn't lose control, but he needed an outlet soon or he was going to butcher the next thing he came across. He sighted Bane's care – a pretty flash Mercedes – and stalked towards it. His right arm bulged outward, his skin turning as hard a stone. When he had reached it and lashed out, he had practically a hammer for a hand. The car crumpled under the blow, the ends bulging outwards as the middle flattened. He then walked around and booted it, sending the mess skidding across the carpark and hitting a low wall. It crumpled even more under the collision.

She walked towards him. "Feeling a bit better?" She asked him. He was still panting, his hand still huge. But he took a deep breath, and it returned to normal.

"Not really." He admitted. "Can't believe how _fucking_ one-sided that was. Is that what being a hero gets you here? People willing to turn a blind eye to anything you do?"

"Sounds like it." She answered bitterly. She turned to see Taylor and Danny walking out. They were talking, she was nearly crying, and they didn't seem to notice either of them there. She clenched her hand in response. "So all that really did was make a whole pile of bullshit and let those bitches know that Taylor's willing to stand up for herself. Go team 'Get Fucked'."

Alex growled. "If I see Shadow Stalker, I am going to send her to the intensive care ward."

"Please do." She was interrupted by the sound of a ringing phone. Alex's. Guess Kaiser wanted Blacklight now. He turned away and answered it, while Taylor was walking away from her dad, also talking on a phone. So something big was happening tonight then.

She turned back to Alex as he hung up. "Kaiser wants me on the offensive tonight. He's got everyone into teams and attacking strongholds. We're to do whatever we can against any ABB we run into."

"I'll watch out for blood splatter in the morning." She replied. "While you're doing that, I'm gonna start writing up about this. Maybe if the public knew about this they might force the school to change their mind."

"I won't hold my breath." He said in response, already running a normal speed down the road. Only when he was away from the school did he pick up the pace.

She turned away, saw Danny approaching her. She gave him a tired smile. "Well… That sucked balls."

He sighed. "I know what you mean. They got everything they wanted and we got nothing. Can't believe this actually happened." He sat down on the curb. She sat down beside him. He was holding his head in his hands, rubbing at his eyes. "Honestly, I… I don't know what to do. I just feel so helpless. I feel like I'm a terrible parent."

"Don't say that. You're a great dad."

"Am I? My daughter has been getting bullied for over a year. The first I ever knew of it was when she ended up in the psychiatric ward. Maybe there had… Maybe there had always been signs, and I just never noticed them."

"It sounds more like she had been worried that something like this would've happened. And I don't blame her." When that didn't seem to help, she tried changing tactics. "At least you're there for her. You're a shoulder she can cry on when she needs to. I only had Alex, and he wasn't exactly the warmest shoulder to lean against." That was only _partially_ true. The original Alex wasn't as nice as she thought; not if he was willing to help create a bioweapon and then try to release it when he thought he was getting screwed. But even current Alex wasn't someone she'd go to about her problems. He'd just murder them.

Danny looked at her. "What do you mean? Weren't your parents there to help?"

She shook her head. "Mom was crook. And I never knew my dad. All I really know about either of them was that Mom got knocked up by a stranger, had Alex, got sent to prison, got out in time to get knocked up with me, and then as soon as I was born she ended up getting sent back. Died in there, last I heard. It had always just been me and Alex."

"I… I'm sorry."

She waved a hand. "Don't be. It's ancient history now. But the point is, you're as bad as you seem to think you are. Taylor… She's just a quiet girl. I don't think she's used to talking to people about her problems."

"What makes you think that?"

"She reminds me of Alex. They both just seem… I don't know, uncomfortable around others. Like they don't know what to do. Alex won't normally come to me about his problems either." Because usually, they've stopped being problems by that time. "My advice? Don't push her too hard. Don't try to force her to talk to you. Let her choose to talk. Otherwise, she's just gonna close up on you. Act all stubborn."

"But what if she _still_ doesn't want to talk?"

She shrugged. "Then… You keep trying. Or maybe you accept that there are some things she just doesn't want to say, doesn't want you hearing about." He looked at her, not understanding. Maybe it was time to tell another story. Just… cleaned up for his sake. "Last place we stayed at? Some gang members were stalking me. Probably because I'm a white girl and all that. Alex, went to confront them, but he never spoke about them. They just simply vanished. Then some of their friends showed up. Alex went to talk to them, wouldn't say what happened. It kept happening over and over again. The final time, I followed him. He…" She sighed. There was no avoiding this part. "He killed them. They tried to attack him, and he killed them to defend me. I was pretty shocked when I found out. He was embarrassed. We never really mentioned it again. Just moved out, and started over."

"God."

"I'm not saying that Taylor's getting involved in anything like that. Just… sometimes, people have a good reason to keep quiet." She stood up. "I should get going. That article on the corruption of schools isn't going to write itself."

"Yeah. Yeah, you do that." Danny said quietly. "I'll… I'll see you later. Need to drop off Taylor's list for you."

She looked back at him, smiling. "Thanks. I'd like that."

* * *

Alex arrived at his destination far sooner than everyone else. Understandable, really. People always underestimated you when you don't rely on normal transportation to get places. Of course, that just meant that he was forced to wait there, with a lot of rage demanding to be unleashed.

That fiasco was complete _bullshit_. Dana had already warned him that the system would be against them since Sophia is a 'hero', but he still completely underestimated how bad it was going to be. Two weeks suspension. Two. Weeks. Suspension. He usually considered dismemberment or death to be a fitting punishment and even _he_ could tell that was completely unfair. His hands were itching to wrap around their fragile throats, crushing them as his tendrils started digging into their…

He felt several tendrils waving around his body. He pulled them back in and thought of something else. He _had_ to think of something else until he could cause some violence.

Taylor. She figured something out about him. He heard her breath catch during the meeting, caught her staring at him with wide eyes. The kind of expression he imagined her having under mask when he ate Bakuda. Shit. Well, it wasn't like she was gonna spill or anything.

He grunted as his biomass twitched again. It hungered for something, anything to feed or kill. Maybe he should break this weird tower he was waiting at, vent some anger that way.

He was just pondering where the weak points were on this thing when he heard someone approaching. The sound of metal on metal, metal on concrete, reached his ears. Kaiser.

About fucking time.

"You're early, Blacklight." Kaiser said, his voice calm. Beside him were the Valkyries, Fenja and Menja.

Alex shrugged. "When you called me, I assumed you wanted me here as soon as possible." He looked away. "So when do we get to the killing? I'm itching for some violence.

"In good time, Blacklight. We're simply waiting for the rest of our group to arrive."

"Who else is there? I figured that you, me, and your eye candy would be enough for this place."

"True, but there's always surprises. And besides, it was Coil's suggestion. Have us in groups made up of members from different gangs. That way, one can't betray the other without risking their own men being taken hostage."

"Not that useful if you consider them expendable." But he started pacing again. "So which members are still coming?"

"Trickster informed me that he was sending his most powerful member to fight alongside us. Sundancer. A pretty thing with the power to…"

"Create suns?"

"Indeed. Don't stray too close to her attacks. Faultline is sending in Newter and Labyrinth to play distraction. Coil's sent two snipers to help out. And the Undersiders have informed me that Bitch and Swarm will be joining us soon."

Swarm. Taylor. It would take her about twenty minutes to get from the school to the docks. Five minutes maybe to get in costume. And then another five to get close to here. All in all, about thirty minutes in total.

And he had been waiting here for ten.

This was gonna be hell.

* * *

They only just made it. Swarm and Bitch were the last members to arrive. About damn time. Alex had almost worn a hole into the ground. Several grooves were now in the wall, where he had lashed out with his claws. The others were all keeping a good distance from him, letting him vent. Kaiser nodded to the Undersiders as they approached.

"A minute to spare. Cutting things a bit close, aren't we?" But he didn't let them respond. "Everyone, watches out." There was rustling as everyone pulled out something that kept track of time. Alex's phone appeared in his hand. "Set them to four-forty in three, two, one… set. Good. We'll begin our attack in five minutes. That should give us time to move out and come up with a plan of attack." Everyone started moving away. Bitch smirked as she used her powers, her dogs growing even bigger. Their skins split open, and they shook off the excess blood and gore from their growth. Everyone aside from the Undersiders, Labyrinth, and himself, shouted and backed away. Even Kaiser was startled by the mutts.

He wasn't complaining. He didn't like Kaiser's ideology. Probably because he was about 1/40th the people he didn't like. And free biomass is free biomass. That said, if Kaiser asked him to punch Bitch in the face, he wouldn't exactly object.

"The building we're after is a two story warehouse used for drug-packing." Kaiser said to the others. Alex already knew this. It was _his_ knowledge that Kaiser was parroting now, after all. "It's one of their major bases, and hitting it will do a lot of damage to the ABB. Because of that, however, Bakuda had placed bombs in the ground around it before she was killed in action."

"Four bombs, basic explosives. Motion detectors set up on them. Swarm, have a pile of your bugs set them off from a distance." Alex said. "This place mostly focused on having armed guards."

"Newter, you can sweep the upper floors." Kaiser continued saying. "I'm sure Swarm can spare some bugs to help distract your attackers. Sundancer, Labyrinth, you two will be our backup. We'll call you if we need help or assistance." Kaiser glanced at Bitch. "Bitch, you'll be dealing with the ones on the ground floor. My group will be circling round to attack from the rear." He ignored Swarm's complaints, and looked at Alex. "Blacklight…"

"Just charge in there and kill everything in my general area." He finished. "Planning on doing just that."

Kaiser nodded. "Good. Move out."

Finally. Words Alex wanted to hear.

He dashed forward before everyone else, aiming to jump over the building. He easily cleared it from the ground, sailing high overhead. Below him, two patrols moved without knowing he was there.

That changed when he landed.

His feet squashed someone flat, while he lashed out at another gang member. Severed flesh fell in chunks as he moved to the next one, bullets pinging harmlessly off his body. He lashed out with a whipfist, slamming the poor guy over and over again. There was shouting and screaming as the ABB tried to figure out what was happening. Behind him, things started exploding. Swarm had triggered the bombs then. He ignored her as he slammed his fists into the next guy. His arms had been muscled up at the time. The guy was turned into mist on the first hit. More soldiers came rushing out to fight him, but Alex slammed his heel against the ground. They toppled over, and as they tried to get up he twirled his whipfist around himself. Those who weren't sliced apart by the blades were killed on impact.

By the time Kaiser and his girls had made it round to him, there was nothing but bodies and _a lot_ of blood.

"Impressive, Blacklight." He said, sounding amused. "It appears that you've been holding back on me."

"Just haven't met anything worth the effort yet."

The doors just before them suddenly blew wide open. As in 'blown off their hinges' wide. Alex deflected one door with his arm, while Fenja grew in size and grabbed the other one. Out of the doors and the inferno strode a man wearing only jeans. His chest was covered in tattoos, and he wore a metal mask shaped like a dragon face. Already there were scales growing over his body, and his neck was longer than a normal human

"Then you have not faced me before, killer." Lung said, almost growling his words out.

Kaiser didn't react to this display, though he _did_ take a couple of steps back. "Blacklight, if you will."

"Sure." He replied, and charged in to fight Lung.

He had already considered that he might end up fighting the gang leader. And he already knew a way to deal with him. Lung's power allowed him to become tougher, stronger, and more dragon-like the longer he fought for. According to data Dana had found, there is no upper limit to his power, and he once managed to fight an Endbringer to a standstill.

The only way around his monstrous strength is to hit him hard enough before he could shrug it off.

Unfortunately for Alex, Lung appeared to have been preparing for this fight.

Unfortunately for _Lung_ , Alex was far tougher and stronger than he looked.

Lung moved to intercept Alex, only for the bioweapon to bulk up his muscles and slam both his hands into his stomach. Lung gagged from the force, the bottom of his mask dripping with saliva. Before he could recover, Alex pushed some biomass through his hands to create a 'beam' of it. It started tearing through Lung and at the same time pushing him back through the building. Alex followed him in.

Lung was coughing on the floor when Alex landed. He started rising again, fire now covering his body. Alex ignored the flames and created his hammerfists, slamming them down on Lung's back. The larger man fell back to the ground with a loud bang. Alex then uncurled his claws and stabbed them through one arm, his biomass tunneling underneath to burst out through the other arm. Lung yelled in pain. As he looked up, Alex pulled his claws free and booted him in the face. The mask, already crumpled, shattered on impact as Lung went flying back again. Alex rushed after him again, not giving him a moment to fight back.

Sadly, Lung only really _needed_ a moment. He exploded with flames again, the heat pushing back at Alex. He let the outer layers of his armour burn away, pushing through the slam into Lung. This time though, the larger man managed to slam his hands down on his back. Alex stood his ground, and flipped him over. As Lung got back up, he turned just in time for Alex to strike again.

This time though, Alex went for something more lethal.

There was a thud as Lung's arm landed, several feet away from the rest of him. He yelled in pain and lashed out, but Alex blocked it with a shield. Two spikes skewered Lung's feet, trapping him in place. Alex's blade flashed as he spun his upper body around. Lung toppled to the ground, his legs still standing. He held out his remaining arm in self-defence.

Shink. His last arm went flying into the air. Alex finished off by grabbing his head and slamming it repeatedly against the ground. He only desisted when Lung stopped struggling. A quick check of his pulse confirmed that he was still alive. And as long as he was alive, he'll heal from this. Eventually.

Someone once said that violence solves nothing. That's stupid. Violence solves _everything_.

Kaiser was watching him with interest. "Hmm. _Very_ impressive. At this rate, I might have to offer you a bonus."

"Pay me twice my usual fee, and I'll consider us even." There was a crashing sound overhead, and he saw Bitch and her dogs racing outside. She had cornered a man in a black ninja garb and a demon mask, when another one appeared right behind her. He got sniped in the head and fell down, turning to ash a few seconds later.

Oni Lee.

Kaiser looked in the same direction. "Blacklight, perhaps you could help our allies with their little problem. They seem to be underequipped to handle things."

"Everyone's underequipped compared to me." He replied, charging out the building. But his mind was on other things than killing.

Namely, how he was gonna keep Lee alive during all this.

Lung and Oni Lee were two powers he wanted the most. One had the power to become stronger and stronger; the other had the power to teleport and leave behind a copy. It could fight or do actions after he had gone. Those two combined…

Well, they were on the top of his list for a damn good reason.

First problem would be tagging him. Making sure he could find him later. If he lashed out at Lee, he could very well end up tagging a copy. The cells he'd leave behind would be wasted. So as soon as he got outside, he switched to thermal vision.

Everything changed to shades of blue and red. The walls became indistinct. He couldn't tell where they were anymore. There could be one right in his face, and he wouldn't know. But the people around him, they lit up different shades of red. He could see Swarm standing next to Sundancer and Labyrinth. Coil's men were on top of the building. Newter was lying on the ground, not moving. His heat meant he was either still alive, or hadn't died too long ago. Bitch and her dogs were fighting in the middle, a shape moving to avoid them. One dog got their jaws around him.

He looked up to see a signature above him.

Got him.

Alex jumped straight up, ignoring anything in his way. The roof above shattered as he smashed through it, as he surprised Oni Lee. He lashed out with a whipfist at him, the tip slicing through him. Then the shape before him turned blue, disappearing. Quickly, he shifted to his Infected Vision. It allowed him to connect to the Hive Mind, allowed him to see the virus inside others. He turned to look at the battlefield again.

Only one person lit up in his vision.

Got him.

Now he just needed to scare him off before he got himself killed.

* * *

Oni Lee was proving to be a problem.

He had surprised us all, taking out Newter. He nearly killed Bitch with his powers. Only an attack from Coil's men saved her life. Bitch in turn tried to use her dogs to box him in, take him down.

He turned to ash, right as part of the roof exploded.

Blacklight had somehow spotted Lee on the roof, had managed to hurt him before he ran. Now he was jumping towards the snipers, ignoring everything else. He landed before them, and said something. The men didn't like it, but they handed him their sniper rifle. Blacklight immediately had it in his hands, firing a shell without scoping it out. I saw something stumble, and then Oni Lee was standing near us. Blood was flowing down his arm.

Blacklight had hurt him. Without even truly looking, he managed to hit him.

Was there anything Alex _couldn't_ do?

A second shot rang out, and Lee exploded. A third one, and a shape stumbled again. A fourth, and Lee fell to the ground. He vanished into ash, and there were no more shots. I looked up to see him handing the rifle back, and dropping down to the ground. Kaiser was walking out the warehouse, one of his girls following him. The other was bigger, and lugging Lung in her arms.

I noticed that he was missing all his limbs.

Kaiser was clapping as he walked towards us. A slow clap that echoed. "Well done, well done. Normally I'd be addressing everyone… if it weren't for the fact that Blacklight did the lion's share of the work tonight. Half the men here, Lung, and he even scared off Oni Lee." He glanced his way. "From now on, I'll be assigning you your own places. You could probably clear them out in less time than the rest of us."

Blacklight shrugged. "I won't have to hold back at least." He said. I saw him glance at Lung, saw his hands twitch.

But instead of doing anything, he merely said, "If it's all the same to you, I think I'll hit another ABB stronghold before the night is over."

Kaiser nodded. "Of course. Hit as many as you want. At this rate, the ABB will be finished by the end of the week." Blacklight nodded, and then he was jumping away. The rest of us backed away slightly, shaken by the shockwave. I saw him somehow propel himself forward, towards the warehouse. He landed, and then jumped off again as soon as he landed. He moved far away with an ease I couldn't really imagine.

Part of me wondered though; why was he interested in Lung?

* * *

Kaiser's estimation of a week wasn't too far off; it wasn't too optimistic at any rate.

It only took the combined might of the heroes, villains, and military two more days to wipe out the ABB.

With the loss of Bakuda before it all really started, many of their conscripts had already left to find shelter. With Lung's defeat and Oni Lee's injuries, they lost all their parahuman might. Only the most loyal really stayed, bullying anyone they could find into staying and fighting. But it was an uphill battle. The men in charge were killed or captured, the ones below panicked, and those forced to stay ran as soon as they could. Many were running as soon as the capes showed up.

Normally, this kind of speed would please Alex. But right now, he desperately wished he could find some way of making it last longer.

The thing is, he was running out of time to research the possible ways he could harvest the powers. Whenever he wasn't earning his keep with Kaiser, he was busy researching everything he could find about powers. The slightest scraps, the most obscure facts, the most unlikely rumours. Anything that could help him come up with a plan was found, processed, and stored in his mind. When he was busy fighting, a part of him was putting all those facts into plans. So far, he only had bits and pieces. Hardly enough to call a foolproof idea.

But he didn't have any more time. Tonight, the ABB were unofficially written off. Everyone had either left, been captured, or killed. Lung was already being tried, his fate evident to everyone. The Birdcage. The Maximum security prison in America. Once someone ended up in there, they were off limits to any outside help. He _might_ be able to work a way in. Or it might really be as impossible as everyone says. He couldn't take that risk. Lung's power was too great to let it slip through his fingers.

As much as he didn't want to, it was time to risk some powers on his best plan. Luckily for him, he knew just who to try out on.

* * *

Andrew – aka, Leet - sighed as he looked up from his work. No, no, no. He had seen those parts before. They would create a rebound effect, make it so that any pieces from the explosion would return to the centre. Effectively hitting the same target twice over. That was for the… For one of their first jobs. The serious ones, _before_ the video game theme. He tossed it aside, knowing that he'd have to start from scratch again.

His career was on a time limit. He had known that ever since he first figured out why his devices explode in his face. There's only so many ways you can build things before you're just repeating yourself. And every device he made gave him less to work with next time. He didn't even know how precise this distinction was. If he build a bomb identical to another, but they both had different levels of explosions, would one just go up in his face? Which one then? He sighed, and rubbed his tired eyes.

The last gig – the Bomberman one with Bakuda – that had been a colossal failure. Swarm had screwed with their camera, so most people didn't see anything. That new guy, Blacklight – he shivered as he realised they went up against a guy who took down most of the Wards alone – had kicked their asses with ease. Bakuda's bomb threats scared everyone. The chat was filled with threats against them, or people talking about Blacklight. And his helmet came off the wrong colour on camera.

Where did his life go so wrong, so out of control? If he had to guess, it was probably when he had his Trigger Event, if not earlier. He was a geek, he was proud of it, and he liked video games. In the feral world of high school, he might as well dressed up in steaks and jumped in a lion pit.

Everyone started picking on him. The jocks, the cheerleaders, the actors, the fashionistas, even the bookworms all targeted him. Countless days of being stuck in lockers, shoved headfirst into trash bins, his clothes stolen during gym and he was tossed out with nothing but a towel… He flushed as he remembered those events.

His only solace was Cole – aka, Uber – and video games. And then he just couldn't get past a difficult level. He tried again and again, but it just wasn't enough. Days he spent, going to school and getting bullied, coming back home for the game, only to never make it past that point.

So one day, it just got too much. And then he could start building things.

Cole had been a good friend, and a closet video gamer. He had tried every different activity he could think of, trying to find _something_ he was good at. But every time, every single time, he always came second. Even against Andrew, he kept losing. It was no surprise that his power ended up being good at everything he tried. Together, they had first tried a serious job. Steal some money, buy all the things they wanted. Maybe get some revenge afterwards, some harmless pranks. They ran into Clockblocker and Aegis, and that was the end of that. The second try, Cole had suggested a theme. Something to make them stand out. They had tried different ideas, different themes, always losing. The next time they tried, Andrew had immediately suggested video games, right after he learned that his inventions could only be made once. At least by going by themes for a job, he could keep track of things he had built. And they found that they made a lot of fans from videos of them at work.

So they created their own channel to capitalise on that. Tattletale had been right about _one_ thing. They _did_ make more money from their videos than their jobs.

He was about to get back to work – try to come up with a different design for a machine, see if that worked – when something smashed further in the house. And not like 'I dropped a plate and it broke'. This was more like 'Behemoth just came through our front lounge'. Loud, prolonged, and hard enough to shake his desk.

"Shit." He screeched, grabbing his mask and a semi-complete device. Anything _that_ tough was way out of their league. What the hell was this all about? Was it about Bakuda? Because they had just been hired for a job. That was all. He was going over that over and over as he raced into the living room. He came to stop, horrified.

A huge monster was crouched in there, all red flesh and black claws. One hand was digging into Cole, his blood dripping. Tendrils wormed from its skin into him, drinking him up. Within seconds, he was gone. The beast groaned as it clutched its head, tendrils roaming up and down its body. It shrunk down, its skin changing colour and shape. Within seconds, Cole was crouching before him, hands clutching his head. It made strange noises as its features shifted. But then it stopped. It changed into a taller man in a hoodie. He looked up at Andrew, eyes glowing.

He pulled the trigger on his device, hoping it was complete enough. When it merely sparked and started smoking, he settled for throwing it at the attacker. He batted it away with one arm, the device shattering as it hit the wall.

He settled for running, screaming shrilly as he went.

"HELP!" He screamed as he bounced off the walls, racing for the back door. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" He didn't get very far before he felt something strike him from behind. Pain blossomed from his chest as he coughed up blood. He looked down, and saw black spikes sticking out of his chest. He couldn't feel his arms, couldn't move them. He turned slightly to see the man behind him, at the end of the hall. One arm was a writhing mass of tentacles, twitching as they pulled him in. Everything hurts so much.

And then the world went black.

* * *

Alex grunted as he fell to the floor, his body shifting through the memories he was gaining. Leet, real name Andrew Finch. Parents are divorced, he turned to gaming to help him ignore it all. Grew to love them, got ridiculed at school for being a geek. Met Cole, aka Uber, when they both attended a game convention outside Brockton Bay. He ignored that. It wasn't helpful, wasn't important. He already lost Uber's power because he was rushing. He had to do this right. He could already feel the shard slipping away. Trigger, trigger… Terrible day at school. Got pantsed by the football team. Came home, played some Call of Duty. Kept being killed. _The shard was breaking free._ Kept losing, kept getting killed by cheap-ass tactics. Got angry. Got upset.

Saw… Something. Afterwards, found that he could build anything he could think of.

The shard stopped resisting.

He found it.

He dived into the memory, linking all the others that were with it. Felt the rage, the sadness, the despair he felt when he triggered. The shard was pulled in, locked into place. He could feel it now, a different presence in his head. He tentatively released the memory.

The shard stayed where it was.

He started laughing. He had done it. He found a way to keep the powers. He discarded the power, not really needing it. He wasn't interested in building something once.

But now he had a way to get what he _really_ was after.

Time to hunt down a dragon.

* * *

Paige Mcabee, formerly a parahuman singer by the name of Canary – a rogue, if you will – came to with a start. Her mind was fuzzy, the last memories a complete blur. She had been… what had she been doing? There was something about her mouth, some pain or discomfort. She couldn't close it for some reason. She was getting wet, but she couldn't tell why. Was it raining? Did she fall asleep in a… birdcage? Why did she think of _that_?

Then she remembered the courtroom. Where she was found guilty, sent on a one-way trip to the Birdcage. Panic gripped her. That pressure in her mouth was the mask, meant to stop her from singing. She wanted to struggle, to scream, to beg for mercy. But she couldn't move. Well, that wasn't _completely_ true. She could move a bit. She could move a bit to the sides, pushing through something. But after a certain distance, or speed, she was forced to a stop. She opened her eyes, blinking the water and hair out of them. She was encased in foam, the foam the PRT used. She wanted to give a bitter laugh. This was beyond extreme. She didn't have super strength, or intangibility, or anything that would help her escape. She just had her singing. Hell, that was _all_ she had. It was her only power, her only call to fame. They could've just left the mask on and that would've been enough.

All this because of one mistake. One fuck-up she didn't even realise she made. It just wasn't fair.

She looked up, wanted to see if there was some way she could possibly escape. And she froze when she saw her fellow passenger.

A large man covered in tattoos, from what little she could see through the absolute mountain of foam around him. A metal bar cage was wrapped around him, further restricting his movement. He seemed to be glowering at the floor, ignoring the fine mist of water from the sprinklers.

She had heard of him. One of the heavy hitters in the parahuman society. She may have kept out of the game, but she still heard things. Lung. The leader of the Azn' Bad Boys. Someone (probably a whole _lot_ of someones) must've managed to finally bring him down. Send him with her to the Birdcage.

She quailed. This was the kind of people she was being locked up with. Powerful capes with no compunction against killing. They were going to eat her alive. If she was lucky. She was under no illusion about her beauty, how delicate she was. Maybe it would be better to latch onto a single powerful villain. Sure, he would probably treat her like trash, make her do things that would make her skin crawl. But it had to be better than having hordes of men looming over her. Ready to…

The truck lurched wildly as something slammed into it, the room sagging alarmingly near the middle. She would've shrieked, but she couldn't with her mask on. There was a shearing sound from behind her, and then the truck bucked again. The sound of metal screeching filled the air, left her eardrums ringing.

But they had stopped.

Was this… Was this a breakout? Had someone arrived to free Lung before he was locked away? She felt a glimmer of hope. Maybe they could free her too. She could… She could offer her services somehow. Join up with them. She didn't _want_ to be a villain of course. But what choice did the law leave her? Stay here and be locked away again, maybe worse? It was hardly her fault being upset about how unfair this was. If she were a regular human instead of a parahuman, she doubted they would've thrown her under the bus so easily.

There was a tearing sound, as several sharp shapes stabbed through the roof. They all pulled away, and the roof was torn open with frightening ease. A black spiked figure loomed over them, face hidden behind a featureless mask. Lung looked up at him as he jumped down. The floor dented as he landed.

"You." Lung said. His voice was filled with fury. And fear.

"Yeah. Me." The other villain said, his voice distorted.

"Come to gloat? Or have you switched sides now that the fighting's over?"

"Neither. I'm here for your power." And the stranger stabbed his claws into Lung's face. The skin around them turned black, and he almost seemed to be drinking him. Lung shrank in size, his body disappearing into nothing. Paige trembled in her restraints. He was going to kill her. Once he was done with… whatever he was doing to Lung, he was going to kill her next. The man stumbled back, hands clutching his head. He grew in size, his suit changing. It grew lighter in the upper areas, tattoos appearing on him. Within seconds, Lung was standing before her. He was shaking, hands pressed against his skull like he was trying to break it.

But then he stopped. He gasped for breath, and there was a satisfied look to him. He changed back, his body still looking inhuman. He gave her a quick glance, turning away for the door.

And then he stopped. He turned to face her head on. His head tilted as he stared at her. He came closer to her, forcing her to try and lean back. But she hit the wall instead. There was nowhere to escape.

Funny how the things meant to stop her from escaping also meant she couldn't escape being killed.

He held his clawed hand in her face, the edge shining in the light. "If you're wearing a mask, then your power must have something to do with your face." He said. "Attempt to use it on me, and I will rip your head clean off." She nodded quickly, the only motion allowed to her. Not that she _could_ use her powers anyway. Not with her collar on. It would inject her if she started singing or even so much as raised her voice. His claws shrank down into regular fingers, and he reached for the strap keeping this thing on. Despite his appearance, he was surprisingly gentle while doing it. And quick. He pulled off the mask within moments, the frame inside meant to keep her tongue pressed down dripping with saliva. She spat out a mouthful and worked her jaw muscles. "Who are you, and what is your power?"

She had to work her mouth a bit more before she could respond. "M-M-My name is Paige. I… I went by the stage name Canary. I can sing. Really well."

He tilted his head again. "You can sing? _That's_ your power?" He looked at the mask dangling from his hand. Even with the mask on, she could tell he was confused.

"I… I can affect people's moods with it. Make them feel good. When I really get going, it can even make them susceptible to instructions."

"You can command people." He summed up. "But it sounds as though you need some time to work your ability." He looked at the mask again. "Why were you heading to the Birdcage?"

She shook her head. "It's… It's stupid, really. I told my ex to go fuck himself."

"You what?"

I had just done a gig, one of my biggest shows yet. I work as a professional singer." Now that she was more certain he wasn't going to immediately kill her, she felt calmer. "My ex came up to me after the show. He was going on about how since _he_ was the one that got me to go out on stage, he deserved a cut of _my_ profits. Half of it, even." She snorted. "He seemed to completely forget that I divorced him when I found out he was cheating on me with someone half his age and told me that I wasn't going to cut it in show business."

"And you told him to go fuck himself."

She nodded sheepishly. "Yeah. I don't know if my powers were stronger then, or if he had been in the crowd listening to me, or whatever. But he basically went home and tried to do exactly that. When he realised that it was… anatomically impossible, he settled for…" She blushed.

"Castration."

"Yeah. So next thing I know, the police are at my door, and charging me for 'sexual assault and murder with a super power'. The mask meant that I couldn't argue my case, and the judge and jury found me guilty. That's why I was on this one-way trip to the Birdcage."

The man stared at her for several seconds before he moved again. His left arm stabbed into the foam, before changing shape again. Turned into some kind of stinger. The foam around it started to harden, and he shattered it as he worked. But he managed to get her out of it. Ripped open her cuffs, broke her restraints. She looked up at him in surprise.

"You… You're freeing me?" She asked in surprise. "But… why?"

"Because that is the shittiest reason I've ever heard of to throw someone in any kind of prison." He replied, turning away. He booted the back doors, and they were blown off like paper. "Find somewhere to lay low. I doubt they'll realise the stupidity of their actions anytime soon. Stay out of the spotlight for a good long while."

And then he was running away, leaving her alone to find a way to safety. She would have to try and hitchhike, without anyone reporting her and her orange jumpsuit.

But she was free. She wasn't going to the Birdcage just yet. That was enough for her right now.

* * *

Alex found them easily enough. The Judge, Peter Regan. He had begged and pleaded when he saw him standing in his office. Through him, he found the jury members. Everyone who had voted and sentenced Paige to the Birdcage.

He didn't settle with just consuming them. He bled them dry first. He splashed their blood all over their walls. He had pushed past everyone in his way, leaving them in pieces. He didn't stop until they all paid for what they did.

When he arrived back home, Dana was already waiting for him. And she didn't look happy.

How the hell does she hear about his actions so quickly?

"Why did you kill them?" She asked him, confirming his thoughts. She already knew about the jury members. She didn't like that. She didn't like that he killed them. But she might, if she understood.

He walked towards her. "Have you heard anything about the court case against Canary? She was a rogue, only interested in becoming a singer. Her asshole of an ex tried to get some money out of her, and she told him to go fuck himself. One sentence, something she didn't know he would obey, and she's getting sent to the Birdcage. It's fucking retarded."

She frowned, the feelings of anger transferring to others. Good. He knew she would come round. They may not always see eye-to-eye on justified punishment, but they had the same general idea of justice. His was just more violent. "Really? Shit, those fuckers chose the Birdcage?"

He nodded. "They were afraid. Scared that she might control them with her voice. That if they let her go, she would bend everyone to her will. Stupid, really. Regular people can do that easily enough. They ruined someone's life just to make themselves feel safer." Dana turned to her laptop, tapping away at it. She was likely looking up about the case itself, everything attached to it. She was like him in that regard. They both preferred to have as much data as they could."

"Hmm. Wow." She muttered. "Looks like Dragon thought the same thing." He looked at her quizzically. He didn't have that name memorised. "She's a Tinker, works with the Guild over in Canada. In her spare time, she's the warden of the Birdcage. Found a letter attached to the case from her, basically saying that she think's Canary is innocent of all charges."

He frowned. "She should've just said no. Barred the doors or something. Stop them from dropping her off. Refused."

Dana shrugged. "She can't Alex. She _has_ to do what the law says. Otherwise people are going to get worried that the biggest prison in the world is in the hands of a rogue element." She shook her head. "Anyway, there I need to talk to you about. Got some calls while you were out." She raised a hand as he started." Don't worry, I didn't give them my name or anything. Just said that I was taking your calls for you. You got calls from Kaiser offering more money to stick around and help. But Tattletale called too, said that there was a job on the line if you were interested. Said it could very well pay more than even Kaiser."

"This mysterious employer of theirs." He guessed. Only way that a minor group like them could hope to match the leader of a massive gang. "Who do you think it is?"

"Hell if I know. Maybe it's someone outside of Brockton Bay, trying to worm their way in. But before you shrug it off and go find Kaiser, there was something else she mentioned."

"What?"

"She said that you could probably end up in control of your own area of the city."

"I could do that whenever I want. It's just too much hassle for little reward. I'll go and keep Kaiser in business, make sure the PRT are more focused on _him_ than _me_." He turned to leave, to go and join Kaiser. He may not like him, but the pay was good.

"She also said the there's definitely more money involved." That stopped him. He turned back to her.

"How much?"

"She didn't give a definite number. But she _did_ mention that it could be into the six digits, _if_ we played our cards right."

Six digit numbers. At least a hundred thousand cash. Maybe once a month, maybe per job. With that kind of money, they could afford a better house. They could afford to 'persuade' certain people to look the other way. Or suddenly remember that some details had always been in the system.

With that kind of money, they could find out who brought them here. If they still wanted to learn.

He rolled his shoulders. "Guess I've got enough reason to drop on by for a bit." He said.

* * *

"You did _what_?" Brian asked Lisa. Even though he didn't show as much emotions as the rest of us, you could see the fear in his face.

Not surprising though. I'd feel worried if I learnt that someone invited Blacklight to my place.

Lisa raised a hand defensively. "Calm down, Brian. The boss was the one who okayed it. He's got a big job for us planned, and he wants Blacklight as a part of it."

"I'm surprised that we managed to poach him from Kaiser in the first place." Alec said from the couch. He was reading a comic book, not at all concerned.

"Blacklight is a mercenary. And like Faultline, the only way to stay in business is to not tie yourself down with one group. Kaiser had him for the strike against the ABB. Now that the job's over, he's back on the market again."

"But why have him come to us?" I asked." Why can't our boss hire him directly? I somehow doubt he's going to care about who's employing him."

"Deniability. As long as Blacklight doesn't meet him directly, he doesn't have to worry about being outed or something if he pisses him off."

"Instead, it's us on the chopping block." Brian said. He shook his head. "Sorry Lisa, but I'm not keen on working with this guy. Call him back and tell him not to come, or that our boss will call him soon."

"I can't do that." Lisa said in a small voice.

"Why not?" I asked.

Alec looked up over the couch. "Because he's already here." He said. I turned, only to find Blacklight literally two steps behind us. He was leaning against the railing, his pose at odds with his costume. How did he even get up here? I would've noticed something with my bugs when he arrived.

But here he was. He somehow got up to us without anyone noticing until it was too late.

"You gave him our address?" Brian asked her, his voice tight.

Lisa shrugged. "I didn't want to talk this over out in public. And it's probably in his best interests to not tell anyone about this place, right?"

Blacklight nodded. "You've got issues with me." He said.

"It's nothing _really_ personal. We've just got two different styles. We prefer getting in and out without killing anyone, whereas you…"

"Violence and murder are my first, second, and third choices." He said. "I killed people because that was what Kaiser paid me to do. I _can_ be non-lethal if that's what's needed." He tilted his head towards Lisa. "She called me to say that there was a job on offer. I'm here to find out if it's worth my time."

"Great." Lisa said, all smiles again. "But first, we'll need you to take off your mask." She mimed removing it. "It's only fair after all. You know our faces. We should know yours in response."

"I know who he is." I interrupted. Everyone turned to look at me. "He's Alex Mercer. He's my next door neighbour." I glared at him. " _And_ he's also gone as Alex Ragland, a teen who attacked some of my classmates."

The room went silent. I watched Blacklight carefully, my bugs at the ready. I doubted they could do anything, but they _could_ mean the difference between life and death. But Blacklight merely nodded, tendrils writhing up and down his body. His armour and mask vanished, leaving Alex Mercer leaning against the railing.

"Guess you can only meet so many violent anti-social people before things get odd." He said in his normal, raspy voice. He pushed off from the railing. I noticed the sizable dent he left in it.

Alec looked a lot more interested in the conversation. "You've been living next door to this guy?" But I ignored him. My focus was all on Alex.

I leveled my gaze at him. "You had no right." I said evenly. But I could feel the bugs reacting to my anger.

He looked at me in confusion. "To what? Come into your place? Tattletale invited me."

"Not this." I replied, waving a hand at the building. "My school."

"I'm even more confused. You're saying that I had no right to come along and defend you from those bullies?"

"You could've killed them."

"Could've. Would've." He agreed. He didn't seem the slightest bit concerned about that. "If it were up to me, I would've ripped the lot of them to shreds. But Dana calmed me down, made me promise not to. So I settled for kicking the crap out of them." He gave me a look. "But I'm still confused. Why are you upset that I stopped them?"

"She's a masochist." Alec said 'helpfully'. I turned my glare to him.

"My cape life and my regular life are to be kept _separate_. My school doesn't get involved in the cape business. That's my golden rule." I glared Alex now, trying to look bigger and meaner than I really was. "And you broke it."

Alex gave me a calculating look. "You don't know, do you?" He almost said to himself. "That rule was already broken. I didn't know that at the time, but I do now."

"What do mean?"

"That black girl, one of the ringleaders? Sophia Hess? She's a cape. Shadow Stalker."

Wait.

What?

 _What?!_

"Are you kidding me?" Alec asked at the same time as Brian asking, "How do you know?"

"She used a move on me that she tried on you. Her body structure and muscle density matches. It's her alright. And I bet that's why she's getting off with only a two week suspension. Make me wonder how long the school has been letting her get away with hurting you for."

Now that I knew, I wondered that too. How many times did the teachers notice my bullying, went to report it, only to have it all swept under the rug to keep Sophia out there fighting the good fight. Had some of them been in on it already?

When the principal was listening to my list back at the meeting, was she already thinking of how to spin things to serve her resident superhero?

I spent time pushing the bugs away, trying not to tell them to go after Sophia, so that when I focused on the conversation again, it had apparently turned to the job Alex was here for. Lisa was the one explaining. Something about how the boss wanted us to embarrass the PRT and the Protectorate. Make them look even weaker than they did after _we_ did most of the work for them.

"…To that end, the mayor's organised a fundraiser to boost morale. Most of the heroes in town will be there, along with the upper crust and basically anyone who can afford the tickets."

"He wants us to hit it in full view of everyone." Alex understood. I looked up in shock, saw everyone's expressions. Alec and Rachel looked like they already had heard this. But they didn't look that keen this time.

Brian started laughing. A slow, weak laugh that built up over time.

"Are you insane!?" I nearly shouted at her. "You really want us to bust into this big fancy dinner, fuck over rich guy inside and all the heroes, before escaping before we get arrested by… by… by half the fucking city?"

"Basically." At least she had the decency to look embarrassed. "But there's more to this than the embarrassment. The boss is testing us. He wants to see how well we do on this job."

"Seems more like he wants to see if we're smart enough to say no." Brian said, still chuckling.

"Fuck that." Alex said, turning away. "I don't mind becoming known for some cash around here. But there's no way I'm going to thrust myself into the spotlight like this. I think I'll go and see Kaiser about his…"

"Two hundred and fifty!" Lisa interrupted him. Alex came to a halt. Tendrils flowed as he faced her without turning around.

Whatever Alex's powers did to him, he wasn't human anymore.

"What did you just say?" He asked her.

"Two hundred and fifty thousand. Each. _If_ we do this job." She shook her head. "I should've started with that. But I didn't want to sound desperate."

Alex stepped closer again. "And according to my secretary, your boss is willing to offer me even more money if I work for him."

"Yes." She replied.

Alec got up off the couch. "Just so we're clear, the boss is willing to pay us one million, five hundred thousand… to do this job?"

"There's more. If we pull this off – which Alex here will make more likely – then we'll move on up in the world. We'll get more money, better equipment, information, and we'd get a voice in what he does. All of which gets us more respect in the supervillain community."

Hold up. A voice? "Does that mean we might actually _meet_ this benefactor of ours?" I asked.

"Meet him, discuss what we're doing next, and why. No more just getting told that 'this is important' and expecting to deal with it."

Meeting the boss. That was the final piece I needed to get before I brought the whole package to the Protectorate. I had been holding off to get this last piece. And it could very well be within my grasp.

"Changing my vote." Alec said. "That kind of money is a pretty good reason to do something this crazy."

Alex shrugged. "I'm willing to get all sorts of the wrong attention for that kind of cash. And the promise of more."

The biggest hurdle was him. If I betrayed Alex, I doubted I was walking away alive. He was like having Slaughterhouse Nine on call. And since he knew my identity so well, he would easily go after my dad.

Was getting this information _really_ worth angering _him_?

"I… I change my vote too." I heard myself say. Everyone aside from Alex looked surprised by this. I tried to find a way to explain it. "It bugs me that we don't know who we're working for. He could be a serial killer or something. We might have to do worse things than we've already been doing."

"I'm in." Rachel said. "If the scrawny kid's up for it then there's no way I'm backing out."

It was a majority vote. I could always hang onto the info about the boss. At least until I come up with a way to hand it over without getting killed.

"But we'll need a _solid_ plan." I said firmly.

* * *

 **No! Not Uber and Leet! They died so young!**

 **Oh well. The only other people I could see Alex risking powers would be the Merchants, and I have a** _ **much**_ **better plan in store for** _ **them**_ **. I made up their history and names though. I'm sure Wildbow had something different for them, but I just decided to make up my own stuff.**

 **Now, I think I've read somewhere on Worm or the wiki that powers sometimes have a correlation to what caused the Trigger Event. Aisha (Brian's little sister: Spoilers) was probably ignored during the Leviathan attack. She gained the power to make people forget about her. Rachel watched the dog she liked being drowned and neither of them had the power to stop it. She now has the power to make dogs bigger and stronger. Eidolon (maybe) didn't get things he wanted. He got the power to have whatever power he desired. So I figured that Leet would have always losing when doing the same thing in a game, and Uber had always coming in second. Made sense to me.**

 **Ok, now that we've seen Alex consume Lung and take his power, there's a couple of questions I want to ask.**

 **Does Lung's power make some grow in proportion to their original size? So if say Lung and Taylor both had the same power, would Lung at full power still be bigger than Taylor at full power? Or would they both just reach a max size?**

 **And how automatous do you guys think Oni Lee's copies are? Are they following the last few seconds of his actions, or is he giving commands before he teleports? Yes, Alex ate Oni Lee too. That kind of power in his hands would be devastating.**

 **Merry Christmas everyone.**

 **Edit: Just got another review as I was finishing this off. Greatazuredragon, you had a good idea. It** _ **would**_ **make it more fair if the powers deteriorate over time. Well, fair** _ **er**_ **. But I don't want to have these powers vanish forever. So I've got a better idea.**

 **Something I've got planned for when Alex gains a lair is that he'd make heads to store the powers in. Whenever he wants a certain power, he pulls it out through his hive mind or something, and then uses it. Maybe we could have it that multiple shards in the same head (at least more than three) causes them to deteriorate or something, and they regenerate when he stores them separately. Of course, Glaistig Uaine has several powers from dead people and they don't deteriorate. Just saying, since I like my idea.**


	5. Step 5 - Make Yourself Known

**Whelp, Christmas was great. Got plenty of things I really wanted. Only downside is that I couldn't get the new Xbox elite controller. Not because it was too expensive, but because it's so popular that they've sold out. And apparently they can't churn them off the production line fast enough. We had to preorder the next shipment. Those are some** _ **amazingly**_ **popular controllers. Then I ate enough chocolate stuff to make my teeth start aching the next day. Hope everyone else had an awesome Christmas too.**

 **Now then, I want to thank everyone** _ **again**_ **for their reviews. So far everyone thinks that there's no limit to Lung's size, so basically the two would keep growing and growing. Good to know. To the guest talking about hunting down Slaughterhouse Nine, Alex would see it as too much risk. He'd either have to take Dana with him to hunt down the serial killers, or leave her in Brockton Bay and hope she doesn't get killed in the (likely) month or so it takes for him to find them. She's living in enough comfort and safety right now. No need to kick the hornet's nest, right? But if they were to, say, come on over and threaten him, then he would hunt them down.**

 **And toolazytologin (nice temp name by the way) those are some great ideas you've had. I already thought of having some sleeper agents, but more as in they've been infected already. But yeah, he can make Evolved. They'll basically be Infected with their own personalities instead of being under his direct control.**

 **And to all of those out there who haven't read Worm before reading my story, I'm pleased to hear that you can follow most of what happens here. It's always nice when you have a better idea on who everyone is and what they've done. Makes it easier to understand what's going on.**

 **Happy New Year everyone.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Step 5 – Make Yourself Known to the Superheroes**

It had been quick and easy to work out a plan for the party that night. Alex's suggestion that he could act as decoy went along well with Taylor and the others. He guessed that she was still concerned about him, about living close to someone like him. Well, that didn't matter to him. He already knew he was a monster, that he frightened people. One more person thinking that wasn't going to change anything.

They gotten everything planned within the hour. That left him at least another hour to work on some things he needed. Things that a more juvenile part of him wanted.

Dana looked up as he came back, a bag full of parts in his hands. Bakuda's memories pointed out the common, cheap items he could use to build such simple devices. Without her shard, he wouldn't be building anything complex or beyond conventional standards. But it would do for now. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Their employer is willing to pay us all two hundred and fifty thousand dollars to embarrass the PRT at their fancy dinner tonight." He explained as he started placing them on the table. He grew several tendrils from his body, their fine control allowing him to crack the packaging open and dismantle them. He could build all seven bombs faster than most people could build one.

"Shit. And I was planning on going to have a look." She replied. "But are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Hell no. I'd prefer not to get their attention on such a scale. But I'm probably going to get some flak from them anyway for being a notable villain. And the pay is _definitely_ worth it."

"That it is. Even _with_ the payday from Kaiser, this'll be more money than we've made yet." She watched him work for a bit before speaking again. "Hey, did you know that someone broke Lung out of his truck."

He stopped working for a second. "Right. Was gonna mention that. I consumed him for his power. Sorry for not saying anything before."

"You got his power? Holy crap. That's kinda scary. You gonna use it tonight?"

He shook his head. "Don't want them to know I can take powers yet. I'll save it for when I _really_ need them."

"Them?"

"I went after Oni Lee too. His power would be very useful to me."

"Anyone else you're planning on going after? Should I start packing in case we need to run? Or grab a weapon to beat you upside the head with."

"I have a few more targets. But I'm not going after them. Too much notice. Will save them for another time. Maybe get them on their death beds." He turned to look at her, his tendrils still working. "Could you get me the guest list for this thing? And the PRT employee records? I'd like to get in early, get these set up before the fun starts."

She nodded. "Sure." She turned back to her laptop, the sound of tapping filling the room. "What are you building anyway?"

"Pie bombs. Snot bombs. Gunk bombs. Things that make a lot of disgusting mess without hurting anyone." He saw her give him a strange look. "We want to embarrass them, scare them a bit. I'm getting paid to not kill anyone if I can help it."

"No, I get _that_. I'm just surprised that you're going for _those_ kinds of bombs."

"Blame the juvenile minds in me. They thought it was funny."

"So do I. Think you could add a few jingles to them?"

He shrugged. "Sure. Let me know what you want, and I'm sure I can work with it."

She smiled. "Cool." Her laptop dinged. "Now, let's choose your look for tonight. Tell me the plan so I can pick out the right target."

"Sure thing." He replied. He started loading the chemicals as he talked.

* * *

The party was in full swing by the agreed hour. The rich and famous of Brockton Bay were chatting away with the Protectorate, getting into their good graces or fishing for some juicy stories. Their children were hanging out with the Wards and Glory Girl, trying to worm their way into their circle, have themselves considered their 'normal friend'. There was a lot of passive-aggressive talk, violence replaced with harsh words and lies. All were trying to push their own agendas forward.

Alex preferred a battlefield to this. At least if a Hunter was about to rip his face off it'd wouldn't be lying to him.

"Jenkins, stop staring." His captain scolded him. "We may not get to meet the rich folks, but at least we're inside."

"Yes Sir. Sorry Sir." He said, trying to sound inexperienced. Jenkins was the unfortunate PRT officer who drew the short straw of being his meal. The majority of their plan relied on the heavy hitters being contained in their own foam. Designed to capture and hold dangerous villains, it worked just as well on the good guys. And luckily for him, they weren't fully aware that he found a chemical compound that could harden it, make it breakable. It would embarrass them to no end _and_ it would keep them from arresting them. He hid a smirk behind his helmet as he spied on Glory Girl. If she knew that he was only a dozen feet away from her… Well, he could see her ending up in hospital a _third_ time. He looked away before the captain returned and told him off again, standing to attention. One eye was keeping track of the time.

Ten more minutes until show time.

"Hey." A familiar feminine voice said to him. He turned to face it, keeping the anger out of his stance. Emma Banes was standing in front of him, wearing an impractical dress. He noticed with some annoyance that her bruises had already faded. Panacea's work, perhaps?

Great. Not only does her lawyer father keep her out of trouble, but now her connections to Shadow Stalker stop him from leaving any marks.

"Can I help you, miss?" He said politely. Can't let her know that he knew her. But he swore that he would punch her again during the fight. Leave another reminder of how much he hated her.

Strangely though, he noticed that she wasn't acting haughty. She seemed unsure, worried, and smaller than before. Gone was the bitchy bully, replaced by a frightened victim. She glanced left and right before facing him again, her arms holding her tightly.

"Can you… Can you keep an eye out for a boy my age? Dark hair, baggy jeans, moody looking? And can you stop him from getting in?"

Ah. She was looking for _him_. Or at least Alex Ragland. Guess he left marks even Panacea couldn't heal after all. "I'll try, miss. But if he's got a ticket, I'm afraid I don't have high enough clearance to keep him out. You'll have to talk to the captain about it if you think he's dangerous enough." She looked slightly crestfallen. He added something he felt people were supposed to say in situations like this. "But if I _do_ see him, I'll try and let you know first."

"Thanks." She said. Her voice was much smaller now. Like she was trying to hide from the world. As she turned to leave, he smirked.

Good. Break her fucking spirit, and she won't be hurting Taylor. Best way to stop her without breaking his promise to Dana.

Eight minutes to go.

He did a last sweep of the room, noting where everyone was. The Wards were all bunched up in one corner, easy prey when he surprised them. Glory Girl was a slight problem, in the sense that she might fly out of the blast. _If_ she reacted fast enough. Up at the head table was the Protectorates, taking the seats of honour. Another blast there, another set of targets dealt with. There were a few missing however. The rest of New Wave was elsewhere, likely patrolling the city for people just like him, trying to keep the fighting under control. More annoyingly, however, was Dauntless. A hero who could permanently imbue his items with power. And they stack every time. He basically got a little bit stronger every day. He was someone Alex would have to work harder to take down. Hit harder, move faster. Take him down before he even knew the fight was on. With him out on patrol, that would be more difficult.

Well. Even if he _did_ show up, maybe he and the Undersiders could take him down together. Or at least create an opening.

He stood to attention, appearing alert and able, right up to the moment where several giant dogs came smashing through the roof. The guests started screaming as glass rained down around them, the heroes heading towards the mutts whilst figuring out what was happening. The men around him raised their weapons, ready to engage. Highly unlikely; orders were that they couldn't risk attacking until the civilians weren't in harm's way from them. That included the foam guns.

Then Grue blanketed the immediate area in darkness, leaving just his squad uncovered along with the outermost guests.

Just as planned.

He lashed out with both arms, sending the men nearest to him flying with solid hits to the jaw and chest. Then the captain was sent into the darkness, his helmet shattered. Swarm, Tattletale, and Grue came running out of the darkness, and he helped free his fellow officers of their foam guns.

Then Grue dissipated the darkness completely, and all hell broke loose.

Alex triggered the bombs he had rigged up, people screaming as they exploded. No casings, no shrapnel, but being hit by a lot of cream and snot would scare most people. Those closest were absolutely covered in the stuff, while those further away were still splattered. The Undersiders focused on the head table, while Alex aimed for the kid's table. At some point, he had shifted back to his normal look.

Glory Girl floated above his attack, snarling with rage. "You." She hissed.

"Three for three?" He replied. She flew towards him at speed. Idiot. He dropped the gun long enough to catch her fists. He gave her a slap as her shield dropped, stunning her and causing her to back away.

Maybe he should humiliate her again.

He grabbed her dress with both hands and pulled, the sound of tearing cloth filling the air. Glory Girl shrieked as he left her in just her undergarments, before he tied the dress round her head and sprayed her with the foam. He focused on the arms and legs, leaving her body bare. She toppled over like a tower, only saved by flying into the air. And hitting the roof.

Throughout all this, his bombs were playing the same thing over and over again.

" _Let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee."_

He turned back in time to see Swarm hit Shadow Stalker with a _lot_ of foam. Then she walked over and hit her in the head with her baton. He could see over a year's worth of rage behind that blow.

Speaking of which, he had someone else to look out for.

He found Emma cowering behind her father, shaking like a leaf. He tried to appear intimidating, but they both knew it was pointless. Alex ploughed through them, his denser mass allowing him to slam them hard. He heard several things snap as they landed and skidded across the ground. Bugs were busy attacking the Protectorate, leaving them defenceless.

Well, not completely. Some were still able to fight. He figured that out when he saw Assault knock into Grue before being stopped.

He moved to intercept Battery. Her power was that if she spent a few seconds standing still, she would charge up energy. The charge granted her increased speed, strength, and some electromagnetic powers. It was catching her that would be that hard part. But he himself was intercepted by Triumph. His powers: Sound manipulation. He used it like a gun, blasting people with shouts.

Hmm. He just thought of a possible mutation he could make.

Triumph blasted him again, the force behind it pushing Alex back. He anchored his feet into the ground, and opened his mouth wide. His jaw unhooked itself, opening wider and wider as a second mouth stretched outwards like a funnel. He had gone with a lot of teeth, just as an added weapon.

And then he roared.

It wasn't quite the same as Triumph's blast. Far too unwieldy to really direct. And it was loud too. The kind that made your ears bleed. People crouched down and clutched their ears, wincing in pain. But it did a good job. The force behind it sent Triumph flying. He ran out of breath, but breathed deeply and turned to face Battery. She dodged his next attack, waiting for him to run out of breath, before charging in. He tried to backhand her, but she dodged him. He slammed his fists together, and she was thrown back by the force. But she managed to hold still as she flew, so that when she landed she could dodge his next blast.

He created air holes in his neck, and attacked again. This time, he could breathe in whilst still attacking. Battery's charge wore off, and she was blown away by him. Knocked unconscious, she was easy prey for Tattletale.

So, that was most of the heroes dealt with. The only ones not accounted for were Armsmaster, Miss Militia, and Velocity. He knew they had been here the whole time; where were they now?

There was a muffled 'whumping' sound, somewhere not far from his position. He turned to see Armsmaster standing over Swarm. He pulled the trigger, got nothing.

Dammit. Guess he was going for his fists.

"Not one step closer, Blacklight." Armsmaster said as Alex moved to approach. He slammed his halberd against the floor, and all the bugs near him died. "Or else we will be forced to hurt your teammate." Miss Militia stepped out of what darkness was left, arm wrapped around Regent.

Fucking dammit.

"Surrender." Armsmaster said. No, ordered. And Alex didn't take kindly to someone ordering him like this.

"Fuck you." He growled back, taking a step closer. Miss Militia pulled her arm tighter, a clear warning. He stopped again. And laughed. "You're not going to kill him. You guys are meant to be heroes. You're supposed to bring criminals in _alive_. You don't have the guts to do it. Not like I would."

"You seem pretty confident about this." Armsmaster replied.

"What can I say? I'm good at recognising my own qualities in others. Shadow Stalker? I could easily see her doing it. She'd put a bolt through his neck and not even care. And you guys…" He shook his head. "You'd probably scold her for that, give her some punishment. But it wouldn't be serious. You _need_ her on your team. You need to have more people. That's why you guys just ignore everything that happens in her civilian life. Because if you fucking saw it, you couldn't let her run around anymore."

"You know who she is." That was Miss Militia. She didn't sound happy.

He shrugged. "Yeah. I do." He could use this moment to out her. Take on her real appearance. But he saw the fees of Winslow. Few who went there could afford this place. It wouldn't mean that much. And the PRT would keep it under wraps. Or at least try to. Better to wait till later, when he could get his _real_ revenge.

"Surrender." Armsmaster ordered again. He was pointing the blade of his halberd at him. "I won't repeat myself again."

"And my answer still hasn't changed. You won't kill Regent, not in front of a crowd. So fuck you. And I'm getting tired of all this talking." While he had been standing there, his biomass had been coiling up like a spring.

So when he moved towards Miss Militia, he moved far faster than she was expecting.

She dropped Regent and jumped away, her energy forming a rifle. The first bullets the struck him were nonlethal. Meant to bruise, not kill. Then she switched to lethal rounds. But his armour had been evolved to resist that. Maybe if she used armour-piercing rounds, they might get through. But it wouldn't matter anyway.

He barely even tapped her on impact. But the force behind him still launched her a sizable distance. Then he was being struck by a hundred blows, all in rapid succession. Velocity. Alex had already written him off even _before_ the fight. His power made him faster like the Flash, but his blows became weaker as a result of whatever state he turned into to go so fast. A hundred blows, only a tenth of the strength. He usually just pummeled a person repeatedly until he could knock them down. Defeat by a thousand cuts.

Against a regular person, this might work. Against Alex however, it was barely like standing before a strong wind.

Alex slammed his fists together, and Velocity was sent flying. All his speed meant nothing in the air. Alex shouted at him, and he smacked into the wall hard enough to crack it.

That just left Armsmaster. This world obviously had no plans for dealing with things strong enough and fast enough to smash them. He stopped smirking when he saw Armsmaster fighting against Grue, Bitch, and her dogs. And winning.

 _Cross_.

Alex remembered where he saw that kind of skill before. Cross. The best soldier in Blackwatch. The first person – the _only_ person – to show him that humanity wasn't to be underestimated. He did more damage to Alex than an entire squad of men.

And Armsmaster clearly followed the same battle techniques he did.

The head of his halberd configured into a ball and the chain extended, turning it into a flail with a longer handle. He spun it around, the extra momentum turning into more force when it struck one of the dogs. It stuck it on the shoulder, and it seemed to be even more effective than he would've guessed. Armsmaster was a tinker; maybe he had more mass in it like Alex does. Armsmaster followed up his attack by spinning towards Grue, swinging his staff like a bat. Grue avoided it barely, but that just allowed Armsmaster to grab it with both hands and slam the midsection into his chest. Then he slammed the end into his stomach.

Minor things for Alex maybe, but he still needed to be careful. Alex growled as he charged forward into the fray.

But Armsmaster moved away, his flail taking his place. It smashed into Alex's face, their combined momentum giving it more force. His mask cracked under it. But even as he fell and rolled, his mask healed over. He got back up and moved again. Armsmaster dodged him again, swinging his staff at Alex's head. He grabbed it with one hand, only for the end he held to heat up. Alex's instincts made him release it, and by the time he was able to correct that Armsmaster had moved again. Alex moved in again, hands lengthened into claws. Looks like Armsmaster was going to have to lose some blood to get a fucking clue.

Armsmaster pointed the end at Alex, and lightning fired out of it.

Son of a _bitch_.

His biomass was able to withstand things that would break normal cells. But electricity was one of those things it still didn't like. His body spasmed for a second, forcing him to step away. He and Armsmaster stared at each other, weapons ready.

"Blacklight. Formerly known by the public as the Masked Man or the Hooded Man." Armsmaster stated. "I know a lot about you. Every time you fought in front of a security camera, everytime one of our capes saw you in action, I was learning. I know how you fight. I know your strengths. And that means that I know your weaknesses."

Alex scoffed. "Good for you. Doesn't mean shit though. I'm still going to kick your ass into next week."

"Really? Do you actually think you can win against me?"

"Of course."

"And why is that?"

Alex grinned, though Armsmaster couldn't see it. "Because you don't know _all_ my tricks."

And he stabbed one hand into the ground.

Armsmaster was quick, he'll give him that. He was already jumping back even as Alex was channeling his biomass through the floor. But even so, he barely made it out of range of his spikes. Two passed near his chest, while a third scraped against his helmet. Even with most of his face hidden, Alex could see the look of shock on his face.

Alex broke off the biomass, and jumped through the spikes towards him. He added the biomass as he moved through them, and landed with a pounce. Armsmaster lashed out with his halberd, the tip now a blade again. It clashed against his claws, and he backed away. As he pulled free, he slashed at Alex with the blade, then followed through by striking his elbow with the handle.

He gaped again as Alex bent his arm the wrong way and grabbed hold of it. He swung it round, and Armsmaster was forced to let go.

He was feeling proud of that, until it vanished in his hands, reappearing in Armsmaster's. The hero stood in a fighting stance, but there was caution in it. Alex pulling out a new technique scared him.

Well then, he wouldn't like this.

Alex slammed his foot against the ground, sending cracks outward and shaking the room. He used the force to launch himself, where he curled up into a ball and launched forward. Armsmaster moved, but he didn't realise that Alex could track him like this. He slammed into him, both of them skidding across the ground. There was a slight trail of blood.

Knowing what Cross was like, Alex was ready for when Armsmaster came up fighting again.

Alex slammed his fists together, Armsmaster too stunned to back away. He was thrown back against the wall, hard. Alex followed up by booting him to the other side of the room.

Armsmaster was tough like Batman was tough. They both used data and hours of training to take on things bigger than them. But they were both still human. They could only take so much damage.

Guess that made Alex the Bane to Armsmaster's Batman.

"Undersiders, I think we've done enough. Let's get out of here." He called out. The others jumped onto the dogs, who ran towards the large windows.

Alex unleashed one final shout, and was soon right behind them.

* * *

I didn't really want to admit it, but having Alex on the team was a fucking godsend.

 _He_ was the one who did the most damage. Every hero they had there, every attack they threw at us, he just pushed through and kept going. Even Armsmaster, who managed to fight Grue, Bitch _and_ her dogs _at the same time_ couldn't beat him. He thought he knew all of Alex's tricks, but then Alex surprised him.

It made me wonder what _other_ tricks he had at his disposal.

"Woo!" Alec was shouting, laughing away. "I can't believe it. We barged right in and fucked them over. They're not going to recover from this kind of screw up soon. It'll be all that everyone talks about. How a small team showed up and kicked their asses."

"We got lucky." Grue said firmly.

"Fuck lucky. We had Blacklight."

"He helped. But we did a lot of work too."

I got it. If our boss decided that supporting Blacklight was a better deal, he might very well drop us. No more cash flow from him, no more information. We'd be set back by months. _I'd_ be set back by months.

And I was sure that Alex wouldn't lift a finger to help us out.

"Blacklight." I called out to him. He had managed to get from behind us to ahead of us. I saw him look back, slowing down so he was running alongside us. I also saw that he was running along the wall, one hand pressed against it. Cracks were forming from where his feet were. "I want to make a deal with you."

He looked at me. "What for?"

"We're worried that the boss will choose you over us. And you wouldn't argue against it."

He shrugged. "Not really."

"Then what if we offered you ten percent of what we earn?" The other looked at me in surprise.

But I noticed that Alex was listening.

"…I'll make your continued service one of my conditions. _If_ it comes to that. I won't charge you if he still hires you alongside me." He pushed ahead again.

But we hadn't gone much further when a bolt of lightning struck the ground. I looked up to see Dauntless floating above us.

Fuck.

Alex didn't wait for Dauntless to give some grand speech. He simply jumped up to attack him. Dauntless raised his shield, and it created an energy bubble that Alex bounced off of. He grunted as he fell, and I heard a slight sizzling noise.

"Regent." Alex said as he landed. Regent nodded and raised a hand. Dauntless's arm seized up, and his shield dropped. He managed to raise it up again in two seconds.

But that was all the time Alex needed.

As soon as the barrier fell, he had fired a tendril at Dauntless and at the same time jumped. The tendril stabbed into his chest, and Alex pulled him towards himself. Two extra arms grew from his back, and he started pummeling Dauntless as hard and as much as he could. Armour plating cracked and shattered. When they both landed, Dauntless was out for the count.

And yet _another_ hero Alex had taken down on his own.

No. Almost. He needed Regent to start him off. Get Dauntless to drop the shield. Maybe if we mentioned that, this employer of ours might not get rid of us.

I just had to see who he was before we were kicked out.

"Come on." Tattletale said, waving us along. "We have to get to the van before anyone else shows up."

"And from there?" I asked. "Back to the hideout?"

She shook her head, even as Bitch shrank down the dogs and we ran towards the parking garage we had left our ride in. "The boss wants to see us as soon as we were sure we lost any tails. We'll go for a windy drive, take a lot of turns and backtracking before heading to our next destination. Blacklight, you'll need to hop in too. No running alongside us."

"Ok then. But don't blame me when the suspension fails on us." As the rest of us ran into the garage, Alex moved in just enough to change into a different disguise before walking back outside. He was a dark skinned man dressed in a security jacket, waving off anyone who came closer. The rest of us had to change our costumes in a less efficient way. I unzipped the top half and tied it round my waist, pausing to tug at the sweaty thin black shirt I was wearing underneath. Thank god black doesn't become too see-through when wet, or else I would've been mortified. Rachel carried her tired dogs into the back of the van along with us, heedless of the blood and melting flesh still covering them. As the oldest, Brian took the wheel. He stopped briefly at the entrance, long enough for Alex to hop in. The back sagged alarmingly as he stepped in, the van shaking with every step. Grunting, black tendrils flowed from his legs as he sat down, moving towards the open window at the front. The van stopped sinking on its suspension so much. But it was still lower than I liked. Every time Brian turned a corner, I could hear the wheel hit the wheel well. Surely someone would notice how low it was.

But despite my worries, despite the odds against us, despite the fact that the universe just loved fucking with me, we made it our destination without being followed. Hopefully. I somehow doubted that any heroes tailing us would be willing to listen to me if I told them I was an undercover hero. More likely to think I'm trying to save my skin and arrest me anyway. Along the way, we all put our costumes back on. All I had to do now was wear the mask.

Brian pulled to a stop, the sound of a roller door engine filling the air. Only when the room was lit up by lights did we step out. As I hopped out, I finally realised what Alex had done with his extra mass.

They were covering the outside of the van, changing from red to black. Had he been doing that this whole trip? Having this stuff changed colours to try and throw people off our tail? I kept a good distance away from it as it flowed off the van and back towards Alex. Any bugs that were swept up in it vanished from my senses. Eaten alive. It shifted into his armour as it wrapped around him. With all of us fully in costume again, we headed for the rusted door waiting at the back wall.

Surprise, surprise, it opened without so much as a squeak.

On the other side, everything was clean and new. Well, not entirely clean. There were obvious signs of construction. An army of builders parted around us, letting us through. I saw Alex lift an entire concrete mixer and move it aside rather than just walk around it. Tattletale led the way, as though she knew exactly where she was going. Our journey ended before a high-backed chair, several mercenaries standing at attention around it. The chair slowly and dramatically turned, revealing our mysterious employer.

A black bodysuit, designed to make the wearer appear skeletal underneath. A white serpent winding down his body, ending at his ankle.

Coil.

"Well done, well done." He said, clapping his hands together. "While I have no doubt that Blacklight did most of the hardest work, the rest of you performed admirably. You were all well worth the investment." He reached behind himself, pulling out a roll of quarters. "Before we continue our discussions, I wish to demonstrate something to you all. A hint of my power. If you would catch the coins and place them on the back of your hands."

He flipped the first coin to Tattletale. She slapped it against her hand and called it out. "Heads." She said.

Grue was next on the list. "Heads." He also said.

I nearly fumbled with mine, but I managed to slap it against my hand. "Heads." I said. I could already tell what the others were going to get.

And I was right. Bitch, Regent, and Blacklight all came up heads. I reached into my utility belt and pulled out a silver dollar. I showed it to Coil, and he nodded. When I flipped the coin and caught it, it came up heads.

"Some kind of probability manipulation." Blacklight mused. "The ability to make the universe bend chance to your outcome."

"Perhaps, but only in the bluntest sense. Much like how one could address one of your powers as mimicking someone you eat." Coil responded. "It _is_ true, but it fails to capture the true essence of what one can do."

"As much as I'd love to talk philosophical crap with you, I'm here for something far more physical."

Coil nodded. "Of course. Given your track record, I would be a fool to refuse. I have someone creating you a bank account as we speak. It will be completely untraceable; a desired choice when one is a supervillain."

Blacklight nodded. "Like Al Capone. He was caught on tax evasion because the cops couldn't get anything else to stick."

"And there's nothing the heroes like more than to drain your coffers and 'donate' it to charities or the city." Blacklight shifted, moving slightly. "I'm assuming that I will find the two hundred and fifty thousand Tattletale promised me to be in the account?"

"Naturally. I'm afraid I can't just _give_ you that kind of money in a briefcase. The PRT keep an eye out for the kind of money being transferred."

Grue cleared his throat. "And what about us? I know we'll be getting paid too, but I somehow doubt you had Tattletale bring us here just to tell us that we have a private bank account."

Coil turned his chair to focus on him. I wasn't as worried about being told to leave. I knew who their leader was. I could bring it all to Miss Militia tomorrow if I wanted. "I won't lie, Undersiders. Recruiting you was a well-placed gamble. If you were to fail at any point – be captured, arrested, or killed – then that meant there were fewer parahumans in the city for me to deal with. But if you succeeded like you lot have, besting heavy odds time and again, then it meant that you were worth investing in. Everyone in this room should be pleased to hear that you passed." He waved a hand around the room. "Tell me, what do you think I desire?"

"The city?" I guessed. "You've already been making moves on the gang turfs; your men have been fighting Empire Eighty-Eight this whole time. Anyone could see what you want."

"They could. You see, I have no interest in ruling the world. It is a cliché, and frankly far too difficult to accomplish. Instead, I am focusing my efforts on controlling an entire city. Even _this_ is something few ever accomplish." He raised a finger though. "Make no mistake however; I am not _just_ interested in taking over organised crime for Brockton Bay. I want to control it all. The government, the law enforcement, the businesses, and so much more."

"Ambitious." Grue said. I detected a change in his tone. Was he feeling dubious about this? I mean, I certainly was. It sounded crazy. The idea that one villain could take over the entire city like that? It was almost like something out of a Saturday morning cartoon. "But what's our role in this? Are we helping you get all of this in place?"

Coil shook his head. "No need. The final pieces are already falling into place. The ABB have been eradicated; Kaiser and I both were of the same mind about them. After failing to deal the final blow to the ABB _and_ tonight's attack, the Wards and the Protectorate are on precarious ground. They will likely reorganise themselves, moving people from city to city. While they are doing this, they are vulnerable and in no condition to halt my plans. By the time they will be prepared, I will already be in place. New Wave are far too controversial to take their place; people trust them even less than they trust the Protectorate. The Merchants are too weak to be anything more than a flea against me. Faultline is a mercenary, and therefore can be bought. That only leaves Empire Eighty-Eight as a threat, and with your help and some other employees, they will fall soon."

He let all of that sink in. "And that's just the parahuman side of things. Thanks to my power, I have become a wealthy man. I have been buying property throughout the docks, and anyone unwilling to meet my price can suffer an unfortunate villain attack. Mayor Christner's opponents in the coming elections are on my payroll, and the Mayor himself has lost votes thanks to your near demolishment on his property. Likewise, several candidates for the city council elections have also been hired by me. When I saw that the final pieces are falling into place, I am _not_ exaggerating.

Well, if the Protectorate weren't interested in _this_ , I'd eat my costume.

"You still haven't said what you're hiring us for." Grue said. "So far, it seems you just want us to harass Triple E and businesses not willing to sell to you. That doesn't seem worth the money you've been throwing around."

"There _is_ one other thing I will need your help with. Taking over the city is pointless if I cannot _keep_ it. I may have vast resources, but I am only one man. I cannot fend off attacks and guard every district in the city. But if I were to gift these districts to loyal employees, then they could lessen my workload."

"You're going to give us parts of the city?"

"I would. If you accept my offer, I will grant you control over the docks. You will of course be expected to help police it and force the others out. But anything that happens within the docks is yours. Any drug deals, protection money, and other sources of income. They will help supplement the pay I will be offering you. And if this proves successful enough, then we can start expanding to _other_ cities, where you will find yourselves in my shoes, with your own people working under you. But of course, that's a topic for the future. For now, our focus is on Brockton Bay."

"Anything other than the pay? I just want to learn all our options first before we decide anything."

"A wise choice. I will allow you all to make one demand each of me. If I can, I will fulfil it to the best of my ability. I cannot offer you any certainties, but know that I am in the best position to ensure that they happen." He looked at all of us, his snake head moving from one person to another. "I already know what some of you want. Bitch wants to help more of the dogs that are awaiting euthanasia in the animal shelters. I can offer assistants, proper buildings, create laws to ensure that they are all well-cared for in the hands of their owners. Regent wants enough fame and power to escape from under his father's thumb, to maybe even get revenge on him. Grue wants to ensure that he can look after his sister." I saw Blacklight looking at Grue. Right. He was probably getting all this cash for Dana. He was in a similar position as Grue was. "Tattletale has already had her wishes met. That just leaves Blacklight and Swarm."

"I already know why you hired me, Coil." Blacklight said. "You want me on your payroll so that someone else couldn't hire me to destroy your plans."

Coil lowered his head. "Correct. You have already proven that in terms of sheer power you are easily one of the most dangerous capes in Brockton Bay, if not the _most_ dangerous left in the city. And I'm sure that Kaiser would greatly desire having you as his lap dog, attacking anyone he doesn't like. Normally I would consider simply removing your from play completely, but I can't be sure that it would work in the first place. Much easier in both the short term _and_ long term to simply gain your services for myself."

"Smart. I don't take kindly to attempts on my life, no matter how badly thought out they might be." Blacklight said smugly. Well, not smugly. His tone just made it feel like he was saying the most obvious thing in the world. "My demands are simple. I want money, and I want help in keeping somewhat out of the spotlight. I doubt you can keep me from being on the front page. But plenty of my powers would likely earn me a kill order. Your job would be to sweep any such notice under the rug for me."

"Of course. I'm certain that they would fail in the end, but the sheer damage caused by such fighting would be too great." Coil turned to face me. "Now Swarm. What exactly do you desire the most from me?"

What _did_ I want from him? What exactly did I want someone I'm planning on betraying to promise me if I 'help' him stay in power? I couldn't just say any random thing, or something a villain would want. That would just alert Tattletale's powers; maybe even make her look deeper into my actions. Find out that I was going to betray them. But there was only one thing I wanted that Coil could provide.

"What _I_ want is for the city to be cleaned up." I said. "I'm not expecting you to clean away _all_ crime, but at least make the city a better place. Fix up the docks so they aren't a dirty topic for the rest of the city. Help create jobs so that people have some actual work again. Fix up the corrupt and bloated bureaucracy so that it _works_." I remembered Shadow Stalker. Sophia. "And make it so that the city doesn't let the heroes get away with things in their civilian lives. So that they can't just hurt others and get away with it because they 'fight the good fight'." Part of me was now worried that I was asking too much of him. That he'd refuse. But so what? I wasn't planning on letting him stick around long enough for it to matter.

Coil watched me for several seconds before speaking. "An interesting wish, Swarm. But one that I was already planning on doing anyway. I am a proud man, and I refuse to let a city that _I_ control remain a place of squalor and disrepair. Giving you a better city would be much like giving you payment for your work; something that I was already planning on gifting you."

"I am not expecting an answer from you just yet, with the exception of Blacklight. Use the time you have choosing whether or not you'll work for me to decide on another desire; something that I am not already planning on gifting. I will expect an answer from the rest of you a week from now. Whether you choose to stand by me or remain on your own will not matter to me. I only ask that you that you consider our prior engagement."

"You're really going to let us say no?" Grue asked.

"What would you have me do? Threaten you? Make you all disappear? Arrange your arrests? Such plans would not be foolproof, and I would rather not rule over my employees with fear like Lung did. If I want someone to work for me, it will be because I offer them greater rewards than if they simply went solo." He turned to look at Blacklight.

Alex didn't even hesitate. "What you're offering is probably the best damn deal I've gotten in this city. Don't fuck me over, and we'll have no problems."

"Excellent. In that case we will both certainly benefit from this mutual partnership." Great. Now I definitely faced another obstacle in my plan to see Coil and the Undersiders brought to justice.

How was I going to do that without Alex killing me in the process?

* * *

It was two days later, and I still didn't have a plan.

It wasn't just sending an anonymous letter to Miss Militia without making it sound ridiculous. Anything I could think of the PRT or the Protectorate could do to protect me wouldn't work against Alex. Men could be killed, defences could be smashed. Even _if_ they could make a defence system so great that even Alex couldn't just break through, there was still his other power. Tattletale said that he mimicked DNA to such an extent that it was indistinguishable from the real thing. He could just sample someone who had the required authorisation and sneak in that way. And forget going out onto the field with the Wards. He'd probably kill me or them before we even know he's there.

They say that the more you know about your enemy, the better position you will be in. Well so far, everything I knew about Alex just told me that I was in over my head.

I needed someone to talk to about this. But that left me with few people I could actually _speak_ to.

I couldn't go to Dad about this. He'd be shocked about what I've really been doing these past couple of months. Finding out that your daughter has been running around in costume working with villains would've been a shock to the system. Finding out that your next door neighbour was a monster even more so. Besides, I was worried that he'd end up doing something that would irritate Alex and get himself killed. No way was I going anywhere near him with this.

The Undersiders were also off-limits. There is no scenario where you can go to the people you're planning on stabbing in the back and talk about how to do so successfully.

Going to see someone in the PRT would just run into the same problems that I was trying to solve. Coil and the Undersiders arrested. Alex hunting me down and killing me. Even if Alex didn't care about me, Coil would. And he could pay Alex enough money to break him out _and_ deal with me.

I stopped walking then. I had gone past my house while I was busy thinking things over. Before me was Alex's home.

There was only one person I could think of that I could talk to. His sister, Dana. Yes, it was probably suicidal. Yes, it was stupid. But everything I had right now was just as suicidal and stupid. I knocked on the door before my courage failed me. Dana opened it, frowning slightly as she saw me.

"Taylor. Hey." She said. "Can I… help you with something?"

I was quiet for far too long, trying to figure out what to say. "…I… I need your help with something. I need… I need someone to talk to about something important."

Dana gave me a tired smile, and stepped back inside. "Sure. Come on in. I'll get some tea ready." I hesitated slightly on the front doorstep, looking around the room carefully as I walked in. This was Alex's home. This was where he slept and relaxed when he wasn't fighting out there. I kept an eye out for anything that could tell me more about him. What were his interests? What did he do for fun? There _had_ to be point where the things I learnt about him would help me make a plan against him. There just had to be.

But there was nothing. There were clear signs of what Dana did; there was a desk set up to one side of the living room, food and drinks arrayed around it and work on the screen. A couple of magazines were lying around the place. But this didn't feel like a home, not like my place did. This felt more like a temporary abode. A place where everything could be packed up within a couple of hours and moved out, or simply left behind. The kitchen was much the same. Dana was busy mixing together a couple of drinks for us.

"So, is this about Coil's offer?" She asked me. I quickly turned my head towards her, eyes wide in shock. She chuckled to herself. "Alex told me all about the meeting when he got back home. Coil sounds like a better option than Kaiser ever did."

"So you _do_ know that he's a… You know."

"Supervillain?" She chuckled again. "Who do you think convinced him to become one in the first place?"

"You did? But… why?" I couldn't quite wrap my head around why someone as perfectly normal as Dana would be alright with her brother becoming a villain. She turned around and placed two mugs on the table, already sipping from one.

"Look. You've probably already realised that Alex doesn't have quite the same idea on morality that we do. To him, violence is perfectly fine. _Killing_ is perfectly fine too. Because of that, he can't really hold a regular job. One shithead customer, and he'd probably rip them apart. The Protectorate are out too; Alex doesn't normally bring people in alive."

"That just leaves becoming a rogue or a villain." I said.

" And you can already tell which one of those would suit him better." She took another sip. "But enough about me and Alex. You said you wanted to talk about something?"

I did. Before I could think of backing out, I told her everything. Starting from my first night out as a cape, facing against Lung to stop him from killing some children I realised were the Undersiders only afterwards. I didn't bother talking about my Trigger Event; if Alex had brutalised the trio because of it, then he and Dana already knew what had happened. I don't know why I was telling her so much. Maybe it was because she was the only normal person I knew of who knew about the capes. Or maybe it was that she just felt more reasonable than Alex would've been.

By the time I was done, my tea had gone cold.

Dana stared attentively at me during the whole tale. "Shit." She muttered. "You've really been through a lot, haven't you?" I meekly nodded. "Well, you're right about Alex probably getting pissed off about being betrayed. And about going after you. But he'll be upset more because it could threaten me than anything else. If you can avoid telling Miss Militia about his identity, then I could convince him to leave you alone. But before you do anything else, I've just got a few questions for you."

"Alright then." One hurdle possibly down. So why did I still feel so uneasy about this?

"You said that Armsmaster offered you a place in the Wards. Why didn't you take him up on it? Helping to take down Lung would've been one huge feather in your cap. Instead, you just kept quiet about it. Don't like the attention?"

I shook my head. "It's not about the attention. I just… I felt like being in the Wards would've been too much like being at school. Getting picked on, having someone pushing me around simply because I'm the new girl in the squad. Now that I know that Sophia's on the team, I'm sure of it. She won't accept that I'm tough enough to fight with her. We'll probably end up in a fight that'll leave one of us dead."

"Fuck. Why the fucking hell is she still on the good guys' side? Alex is more heroic than her. Yeah, he's a moody angry bastard, but at least he doesn't just pick fights with people." She shook her head, tried to get back on topic. "But let's not get side-tracked. You didn't know that she was in the Wards at the time. So you were mainly worried that you'd get bullied again. But I'm pretty sure that they'd pay much more attention if there was bullying going on in the team. Can't afford to have them hate each other after all. Not when they need to work together."

"I was bullied for over a year before that night. I had gone through hell, and the best the school could do was say 'we're sorry'. They didn't even bother trying to find out who did it. Just put in a half-assed effort and then let it drop. Call me cynical, but I doubted that the PRT would've done any better."

"Because they're both part of the establishment?" She asked me. I nodded. "Fine then. But you obviously still think it could work out if you're planning on joining now. So what else is holding you back? Is it the Undersiders? Are you afraid of hurting them?"

"Maybe." I relented. "They're alright, I guess. I don't know about Rachel and Alec, but Lisa's a good friend. So is Brian."

"But you'd like Brian to be something more than just a friend." I looked up at her. "Taylor, I've been in love once too. It was messy, heated, and ended with him pissing off Alex, but we loved each other for a bit. I know what it looks like." I blushed, and looked away. She was right, of course. I _did_ love Brian. I wanted us to be boyfriend and girlfriend. But we couldn't. It was impossible. "Here's what I think. You _do_ consider the Undersiders your friends. Maybe not all of them, but enough that you don't want to betray their trust. But you see the world in black and white. To you, even though they're nice and funny and _somewhat_ good, they're still on the wrong side. But the world _isn't_ black and white, Taylor. It's grey. It's a really shitty grey colour." She placed her empty mug back on the table. "Me and Alex came from another version of Earth. There, some lab boys made a bioweapon, and it accidently got out. The soldiers that were defending against it? They were _real_ nasty. Burning apartment buildings filled with people, gunning down people trying to escape, planning on nuking New York? They're like the fucking Nazis. But the problem is that they were _that_ foul because the bioweapon was just _that_ dangerous. All those horrible things they did? It wasn't enough. They were losing ground."

"And Alex? He's a bit of an asshole too. We may care about each other, but he's still great villain material. I could definitely see him ending up in the Birdcage when or if he's captured. And he was the closest thing New York had to a hero during all that crap." She let that sink in for a bit. "You want to be a hero to make the world a better place. From the sounds of it, Coil does too. He just wants it to be under his control too."

"You think I should stick with Coil and help him." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah. No one said that you couldn't be bad _and_ help the world. You could have your own morals still, your own rules. No killing, or no drugs. You could be an anti-villain or something."

"I don' know. When you call yourself a villain, people tend to think the worse of you."

She snorted. "And what, being a hero means that you are a paragon of justice and can do no wrong? That's the kind of thinking that lets Sophia get away with bullying. Do you really think you can make the world better by working with _her_?"

"No." I said instantly, surprising myself. When I stopped to think it over, I was even _more_ certain of it.

"Well there you go. I think you've made your choice. Some people here aren't villains or rogues because they've got no choice. Sometimes it's because they aren't happy being a hero or think they'll do more outside of them."

I gave her a look. "You seem to know a lot about this kind of stuff."

"Well someone has to make sure Alex doesn't kill everything he meets. Trust me; you pick up some stuff trying to sort through his reasoning."

I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I still wasn't one hundred percent certain I had made the right choice, but Dana was right. If I didn't want to join the Wards before, I hardly had any more reason now that I know that Sophia's a part of it and after how Armsmaster threw me under a bus like he did."

I wondered how long I had been deluding myself about why I was hanging out with the Undersiders.

"Thank you Dana." I said gratefully.

* * *

On the other side of the city, Alex was off exercising.

It was really exercising though. Not the kind of activity where one put pressure on their muscles to make themselves stronger or faster. He could do that easily enough by putting some more biomass into his limbs. It was more that he had to get out and do something to stave off the boredom.

He always had a problem with that. After the excitement and sheer energy of New York, he had been restless and irritable for the first couple of stops. He found that just running around and hitting things helped him cool off. Start relaxing. Or whatever his body considered close to it.

Plus, it gave him time to think.

So as he bench pressed a train car, his mind was mulling over Coil. As far as the villains in the city go, he's probably the least prejudiced _and_ the most unknown. Dana couldn't even find out whether or not he had powers. Guess he knew now. And his plan for fixing up the city? It was better than wanting to murder people or kick around puppies. Maybe he tried in the public system, only to go to villainy when he kept getting blocked by red tape. But a part of him was naturally suspicious. He felt like not everything had been put up on the table that night. Another scheme, another agenda, some special plan that would've been morally sickening.

Well, he was paying Alex quite a bit just to not fuck over his plans. So until he found something worth getting pissed off about, he would keep Coil alive and on track.

Alex tossed the train car into the air, standing up as it landed with a satisfying crash. Well, he made it clear that he was permanently hired now. Might as well go and find some Triple E men to eat. Fuck over Kaiser's racist bullshit while getting some info on his latest plans. Maybe Coil would pay extra for anything he learnt. He jumped up onto the roof tops, moving fast from roof to roof. Last he heard, Coil's men had been clashing with the Empire boys over near the docks. Even if they had moved on or won, he could probably find some sign of where else they were from there. Perhaps someone had seen something that he could find out. Hell, if he was lucky, maybe he might run into…

There was a barely perceivable twang, and then something small and thin stabbed him in the back. He pulled up to a stop and reached for it. He held a broken crossbow bolt in his hand, the head still imbedded in him.

Shadow Stalker. Well. If he had a face right now it'd have a huge grin on it. He armoured up the rest of him and turned around on the spot, thermal vision flicking on. He couldn't see anything just yet. But she was here.

"I suppose I should thank you, Shadow Stalker." He said. "You just made finding you so much easier. You're probably here because you want to silence me. After all, I know who you are under that mask." There, on the next rooftop. A faint heat signature. Her powers must dampen it somewhat. But not get rid of it entirely. Not like Grue's power did.

She didn't respond. Probably still going for the element of surprise.

"You know, people like you disgust me. The kind of people who need to hurt others to feel good about themselves. Yeah, I'm a monster myself, but at least _I_ end things quickly. You, on the other hand? You wanted to make it slow and painful. Draw out every last drop of anguish you could. I bet that Miss Herbert could've dropped off the school roof right in front of you and you would've been fucking proud of yourself. Glad that there was one less person out there. I don't even know why the PRT even considered putting you on probation. If it were up to me, I'd see you in the Birdcage for what you've done." He saw her move now, jumping to another rooftop.

He moved at nearly the same time.

When she landed, he smashed down right next to her, claws already lashing out. He knew it wouldn't kill her, or even hurt her. She was too immaterial for him to deal some actual damage. But Dana had found evidence that large or powerful blows disrupted her, making her take longer to reform, cause her some measure of pain. She managed to roll away from him, firing her crossbow as she moved. The bolts bounced off his armour; he had made it to resist bullets. Bolts were hardly any more effective. He chased after her as she jumped off the roof, disappearing into the dark alley. He flicked his vision back on again to spot her, and at the same time altered the physiology of his arms. Now they were packed with special organs that he had copied from electric eels. Electric organs, they were called. Obvious, but he didn't care about that. He found Shadow Stalker again and shoved his fists into her. When they were inside, he engaged the organs.

She screamed and jolted, her body forced away from his fists as it rematerialized. He slammed them into her again, still producing electricity. She fell to the ground, and he slammed a foot into her stomach. Ribs shattered on impact.

From there, the fight was painfully easy.

He dismantled her piece by piece, breaking every bone and dislocating every socket. He knew it was hypocritical; but that was the point. He wanted her to see what it felt like on the other side. He kept at it until she was a bloody mess, even worse off than Glory Girl had been in their second fight. Only then did he stop beating her within an inch of her life.

"Consider this your only warning." He growled, standing over her. He had grabbed her by the face to make sure she was listening. "If you _ever_ go near Taylor Herbert again, next time I will kill you. I will splatter your blood all over the street, and hang your entrails on the street lamps. Am I clear?"

She moaned. The closest he was probably going to get to answer, seeing as how he shattered her jawbone. But hopefully she'll understand what he meant. He tossed her mangled body out onto the streets, before jumping away.

Someone will find her eventually.

* * *

Piggot sighed as she stepped out of the hospital room. She had a pounding headache right now, and the increasing load of complaints and worries was only making it worse. Someone made sure that the newspapers all learnt that the villains did most of the work, while the PRT mostly guarded buildings. Mayor Christner's attempt to raise morale only led to their embarrassment and humiliation. Fights between Coil and Empire Eighty-Eight were still ongoing, causing property damage, loss of life, and fear.

And now Shadow Stalker –Sophia Hess – was lying in critical condition. And unless Panacea showed up to heal her, she might never return to full strength. She didn't need to look at the files and x-rays to know how bad it was. The doctors had laid it out in general terms. Every bone in her body was shattered or broken. Her organs were at the very least bruised. Signs of concussion. Whoever had worked her over had wanted to inflict pain. Or was holding back the urge to kill her.

And she had a damn good idea as to who it was.

She stopped walking as she entered the entrance area, Armsmaster and Miss Militia waiting for her there. Between them was Amy Dalton. Piggot gave her a tired smile as she approached.

"Miss Dalton. Thank you for coming on such short notice." She said. "I assume that Armsmaster and Miss Militia have informed you of why you're here?"

Amy nodded. "Shadow Stalker was badly injured in a fight, and you want me to help heal her." She looked away, took a deep breath. "How bad is it?"

"I won't mince words, Miss Dalton. She's not going to die from her injuries, but that's a small comfort. Everything in her body was either broken or bruised. You're going to have your work cut out for you with this one."

"I understand. Do you know who did it?"

"Given the words said during the fundraiser, we're certain that Blacklight was the perpetrator." Armsmaster said, moving stiffly. Guess he hasn't fully healed from his fight with him. Amy frowned as she heard that.

"Right. Guess I should get to work then."

"Please do." Piggot said kindly. Amy gave her a sad smile and walked towards Sophia's room. As soon as she had left, Piggot's smile faded. She stomped out the room, the heroes not far behind her. She didn't speak until they were all in the PRT van. "For your sakes, I dearly hope that you've found _something_ to explain why this happened." She said to them.

Miss Militia spoke first. "We don't have much right now, but we've made some guesses. After what he said during the fundraiser, I did some inquiries into things that have happened in her civilian life. There was the usual suspensions and scolding for acting out in class and her home life. Apparently that's not out of the ordinary for her. But there was one incident that got my attention. Sophia and her friends were attacked by a violent new student by the name of Alexander Ragland. Bruises, concussions, broken bones."

"Fights happen; especially around Sophia. What made this one seem different?"

"Because there is no record of an Alex Ragland. Or his father _or_ his caregiver and her brother. It's like they don't exist." She pulled out a tablet from a side panel. "And then I saw this from the security footage of the fundraiser." She pressed play, and Piggot and Armsmaster leaned in.

It was set a few minutes before the attack began. Miss Militia fast forwarded until the dogs came crashing through the roof. As it happened, Piggot saw something else. One of the PRT officers attacking his own teammates. He hit them harder than he should've been able to, sending them flying with each blow. As darkness started billowing, the camera they were watching through stayed clear. They saw tendrils flowing over the officer as he grew in height and shrank in width while armour plating formed over him.

"Blacklight's a Changer." Armsmaster realised. "You think he was also this Alexander Ragland."

"I do. The fight at school began because Sophia was apparently bullying a fellow student by the name of Taylor Herbert. It seems that he took it upon himself to exact vengeance for her."

"Why? Why would a villain like him want to play the role of a knight in shining armour?" Piggot asked.

"I'm still looking into that. Right now though, I thought it would be more prudent to find out his motivations. I believe that this is a follow-up to those events. Shadow Stalker chased him down, and he broke her."

Piggot sighed again. Ever since he showed up in Brockton Bay, Blacklight has been one mess after another. They had to stop him at some point. She looked at Armsmaster. "When will you be ready for a rematch with him, Colin?"

"Hard to say." He replied. "My wound will heal in time; the only problem is that we don't know enough about him. I thought I had enough data to take him down, but he surprised me. I'll need to keep watching him. And we'll also need to make sure that he's pushed. That he's forced to use more of his abilities. If we can do that, I _will_ be able to take him down."

She nodded. She could trust Colin to put his all into this. His fame and standing meant everything to him. The fact that Blacklight managed to best him before everyone else… Well, he'll be even more motivated than before.

"Then take as much time as you need. We'll only get one more shot at this. In the meantime, I'll have some of our boys do some digging. See if there's any mention of anyone like Blacklight before. He _may_ be a new cape, but the skill he's shown so far suggests that he's been at this for a while. We may be able to use that somehow."

"Be advised though, Colin. Given his violent behaviour, you may have to use lethal force on the first go. If so, we will protect you from reprisal." She ignored the look on Miss Militia's face.

One way or another Blacklight _will_ be brought to justice.

* * *

 **You know, when I was writing this I almost felt sorry for Shadow Stalker. But then I remembered what she did to Taylor and then everything felt much better. If anyone in Worm needs to get beaten half to death by Alex, it's got to be her.**

 **When I was writing this, money and helping him remain anonymous were the only things I could think Coil could offer Alex. It made sense to me. Alex doesn't want people putting a kill order on him, since attempts on his life are annoying and could affect Dana too. And until Alex finds another way to keep the PRT off his back, he'll keep Coil alive.**

 **I liked the talk between Taylor and Dana. Dana already knows what it's like to be on the morally grey side before, so she's probably the best person for Taylor to talk to right now. But I always felt that the choice between the Undersiders and the Protectorate was really always more effective if everything was black and white. Because to me, sticking with Coil always sounded like a better idea. I mean, if it was that the Undersiders worked for a stereotypical 'I'm pure evil' villain like say Jack Slash, then the choice would swing to the Protectorate. But otherwise it wouldn't make sense for her to join the heroes. If she didn't join when Armsmaster offered, then I don't see how it would seem better the second time round.**

 **No questions right now, but I do have some news. I have decided that I am going to focus on this story exclusively until I finish it. I know that I could probably put it on hiatus or something, but then I'd probably focus on writing a buffer or something instead of actually doing the other stories. Might as well get this out of the way first while I'm on a roll rather than have it pile up on everything else.**

 **Edit: Now I have a question about Night. Are her powers affected by electronic sight or indirect sight? So would she be able to change if there was a camera watching her, or if someone saw her with thermal vision?**

 **And Fog? When he's in his gaseous form, can he still be affected by powerful winds. Would he be swallowed up if someone were to generate a tornado?**


	6. A Virus, A Tinker, and A Bug Go To A Bar

**Hey there everyone. Enjoying the support you've shown me. Just going to answer some reviews from here.**

 **To those thinking that Alex is OOC for getting murderous over the Trio, you'd be right. I probably** _ **did**_ **get out of character over that. But that's mainly because they're so despicable. I know other fanfics out there have done a great job of making them less of a hate sink (and have even made them heroes) but I prefer to just hate them. Blackwatch may have done some nasty shit, but at least they did it because the Virus is just** _ **that**_ **dangerous. The trio though… Sophia hurts Taylor because she feels like she has the right. That she's the strong one, and Taylor's the weak one, and any attempt by Taylor to change that** _ **has**_ **to be stopped. I haven't had it in my story, but in canon, she attacked Taylor and nearly ripped her ear off because the meeting with the teachers led to her being booted off the track team. I wasn't kidding when I said that Alex is more heroic than her. You know you're bad when the murderous virus is a better hero.**

 **Madison, supposedly, is just a social climber. She picked on Taylor because she wanted to be with the 'in' crowd. That's still nasty, but not** _ **as**_ **nasty. She'd probably can't hate Taylor on a personal level.**

 **Emma though… (Takes a deep breath.) Here's her history.**

 **When Taylor was at Summer Camp, before all the bullying happened, Emma got attacked by some ABB people. I haven't read the interlude in a while, so I can't remember** _ **all**_ **the details, but basically they threatened her (not with rape or anything) and were planning on cutting off her hair when she fought back. That show of strength led to Shadow Stalker finally dealing with them. But Emma was traumatised, because she didn't think she could be strong like Taylor was when her mother died.**

 **Yes. Emma rated the loss of her hair the same level as Taylor losing her mother. Maybe.**

 **Anyway, Emma wanted to be strong like Sophia was. So she cut off everything related to the 'old' Emma. Among those things was her friendship with Taylor, and Taylor in general. She practically ruined her life just to make herself feel stronger and tougher. Taylor might've committed suicide, and she'd probably be thinking that it meant she was stronger than Taylor.**

 **What. The hell.**

 **So yeah. Add in the fact that they're only high schoolers, and they actually feel** _ **worse**_ **than some of the villains to me. I know it's still out of character, but plenty of people love having Alex kick their shit. So I'll still keep that part in.**

 **Well, now that we've got that rant out of the way, I've got something to say to Crowheart about the power ratings.**

 **You're right about how I'm probably overestimating Alex's powers. It's why I asked people for their own ideas about his ratings. But something I want to point out is that the ratings aren't** _ **just**_ **how powerful someone is. It's more like how much of a threat the PRT feels someone is. A Brute 6 could actually be** _ **stronger**_ **than a Brute 8, but the 8 could have something about them that makes them more dangerous than the 6. So say that we had… Deathstroke and Deadpool (not the best comparison, but it's all I can think of right now). Deathstroke may be more dangerous than Deadpool, but Deadpool has such insane regeneration that he could just keep bouncing back. Deathstroke though, you hit him hard enough and he goes down.**

 **Yeah. Not the best comparison. But like I said, it's all I got.**

 **Another way to think about it. The PRT have equipment and strategies for different powers and levels. Having a higher rating means that the PRT can pull out better gear and plans to fight a cape. So if they need Shaker 8 equipment but their opponent is only rated as a 6, they won't get the authorisation. I mean, Taylor is rated as a 2 in everything and a** _ **10**_ **in Master. Not bad for a girl who can only control bugs.**

 **So yeah. Now that that's over, let's enjoy the story.**

 **Edit: the BSDude just corrected me. Apparently they _did_ threaten to rape her and were planning on removing her eye, her nose, or her hand. Worse than I thought, but still not enough to justify ruining Taylor's life. Probably feel that way because I got bullied when I was younger. So yeah, I'm probably also projecting my feelings about bullying too.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: A Virus, A Tinker, and A Bug All Walk Into A Bar…**

The next day was the first time I had been to school in over a week. Three if you didn't count the few says I went before the ABB made it too unsafe to keep going. And the meeting.

To say that I had a lot of catch-up work to do would be an understatement. My absence had caused me to drop to near the bottom of the class. I was always at least two subjects behind everyone else. I had to stay for catch-up classes, complete extra homework, put in even better work during class to keep up.

Funnily enough, I actually enjoyed it.

I wasn't one of those students who started having an orgasm over difficult work. Or a teacher's pet. But I liked having myself challenged. I liked pushing myself a bit harder on something that _wasn't_ life-threatening. I became interested in the things we were learning about… Most of the time.

But best of all, everyone stopped bullying me.

Emma practically shrank away from me when I got close to her. Gone was the confident part-time model and full-time bitch. She acted a lot like I had when she made my life hell; like she was expecting someone to come up and ruin her life any moment now. She avoided her old social circles, and Madison had left her alone now that she wasn't a rising star. Sophia had completely vanished; school rumours said that she got involved in a car crash, and was stuck in hospital for a few more days. Without them egging each other on and appearing cool for hurting the school loser, everyone else backed away. Stories about Ragland floated around the school; spoken of by every clique out there. He was a psycho, he was a serial killer, a cannibal, he was secretly a member of Slaughterhouse Nine, kicked out for being too crazy even for them. A dozen different theories were flying, and each one was crazier than the last. I mean, someone actually went ahead and said he was really my psycho lesbian ex-girlfriend, here to kill any girl who got too close to me so _she_ could have me all to _herself_. Where the hell did _that_ even come from?

Most girls still kept far away from me, just in case.

Thing is, I _know_ that Alex was still in the school. Someone out there had a personal vendetta against Emma and Madison. Through at least half the classes, something happened to them. Their desks fell apart; the vial they were testing shattered; their designer clothes were shredded during gym; a shard of glass found its way into their shoes. And everytime, there was always someone watching them closely, a smirk on their face. A boy, a girl, a janitor, a teacher. Sometimes I recognised them; other times, I didn't. It seemed that Alex was determined to hound them every single moment in revenge for what they did to me.

So when at lunch Emma and Madison both tripped and they ended up _wearing_ their lunch, I confronted him. He had taken the appearance of a lean pale girl with long black hair. I'd put her nationality as Asian, maybe. She was leaning on one elbow, her finger dipped into her food and moving through it. I sat in her way, so that she would see me.

"Alex, this needs to stop." I said, just loud enough for him to hear. I didn't want someone else listening in, even though my bugs told me that there was no one within range. Alex looked at me, and his smirk changed. He looked confused. Like he did when I told him off the first time.

He blew a tuff of hair from his… _her_ face. "I'll never understand you people. You lie, you cheat, you steal and take whatever you want. You hide it all behind doublespeak and make yourselves seem like good people. Some of you are, but most people are driven by their own desires and selfish needs. And when I think I understand how you lot work, someone like _you_ comes along and throws it all out the window. Taylor, they made your life hell. They fully believed that they were in the right; that you were to just sit there and take it. And any time you fought back, any time you stood up for yourself, they saw that as you breaking the rules. You should want them dead for what they've done." She shrugged. "Or at the very least, a taste of their own medicine."

There's an old saying attributed to Ghandi." I retorted. "He once said 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'. Giving them the same treatment they gave me isn't right."

"It was said by Louis Fisher, actually. A biographer's own expression of Ghandi's belief. It's still stupid. That's why you don't go for an eye. If they take your eye, you should take their face. They break your arm, you should rip theirs off. They hurt your family, you should murder them and everyone else they know."

" _Fucking hell._ " I cursed. "I can't believe Dana has to put up with this shit all the time. You're _impossible_ to talk to. Normal people don't need to be convinced _not_ to kill people."

"You're wrong about that. It's actually pretty easy for people to start killing others. Religion, money, fame, a slight to their name, or even just because they can. I think _that's_ the problem. _You_ don't truly understand the people around you. Whereas most of the time, _I_ understand them all too well."

Or maybe it was the other way round. That _I_ understood normal people and Alex only got killers like himself. I think they say that you're more likely to bond with an understand people who act like you.

I had to get Alex to stop. But what could I do that he would fear? What exactly would make him back off?

"Does Dana know that you're bullying them?" I asked him. He stopped moving. As in his whole body stopped moving. His expression froze over, he stopped breathing, even his hair had frozen where it had been swinging. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought that he somehow got affected by Clockblocker.

"You wouldn't dare." He hissed at me.

"Oh, but I would. If you don't leave them alone from now on, then I'm telling on you. And don't even think about killing me. I bet Dana would spot it a mile away." Inside, I quailed. The glare Alex was giving me made me think of a snake looking at a mouse. Like he was deciding on whether or not to waste the effort eating me.

"Fine." He muttered finally. "I don't get why; but I'll leave them alone if you want it _that_ badly." He pushed away from the table, and stalked out the room. As soon as he left, I breathed a sigh of relief. I did it. I managed to get him to listen to me.

Here's hoping I won't end up regretting it.

* * *

Understanding humans was hard. That was the conclusion Alex had reached. There was a saying that the females were difficult to understand, but he felt that it was actually _everyone_. Even despite what those three had done to her, Taylor didn't want him making them pay.

Was this one of those morality things? Prove you're a better person because you _won't_ stoop to their level? That seemed ridiculous. You'd be a better person because you're alive and they're dead. Or at least, you're on top and they're the ones crying a puddle on the floor.

He didn't understand what the big deal was. And he was angry because he _wanted_ to understand. A part of him that still felt human, still _wanted_ to be human, was constantly asking if he was wrong.

 _An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooth._

But who exactly could he talk to about this? He and Taylor just couldn't understand each other. From what Dana told him, she has aspirations to be a hero, or at least an anti-villain. He was under no such illusions. Their ideas of morality were just too fundamentally different. Dana? No. That would defeat the purpose of obeying Taylor's threat. She would be angry that he was still hounding them. Bitch? Regent? No again. They were too similar to him. Both would believe that he was in the right. He wasn't looking for like-minded people. Just someone who could explain things to him.

Tattletale.

It made sense. Her power was understanding things; acquiring new data. From just seeing him using Bakuda's grenade launcher, she figured out that he could sample and incorporate DNA. She'd probably figure out quickly that he's not human, was never really human to begin with.

Good enough. It wasn't like he was brimming with options here.

He took off at a run towards the hideout. He saw people glance in his direction as he passed; a teenage girl going faster than most cars. They'll probably call the PRT on him, maybe even the Protectorate. As he approached the docks, he slipped into an alleyway. The girl went in, and Alex stepped out. From there, it was a slow tedious jog the rest of the way.

It took far too long to reach the hideout at a human speed.

Tattletale was already waiting for him when he climbed up the stairs. Likely her power, telling her that she had a visitor. She gave him a guarded smile.

"Hey Alex. You here to find out what we've decided on?" She asked him. She pointed at the seat opposite him, offering him a seat.

"No." he said, still standing. Before, he could've sat down on an ordinary chair. But that was before he had more people making up his biomass. Now, any chair he sat on would break under his mass. "I… I need to talk. To someone."

"And you chose me? I'm flattered." She kept smiling. It was probably a quirk of hers. Appear harmless, not a threat. Surprise them with knowledge. Gloat. Rinse, repeat.

Except he knew that knowledge could be as dangerous as any weapon if used correctly.

Ah, what the hell. He had to expect this. Best to suck it up and get this talk over with.

"Why does Taylor care so much about the girls who made her life hell? He asked. Tattletale frowned. Whatever she had been expecting, this wasn't it.

"The girls? You mean the ones from school?"

He nodded. "Emma Banes. Madison Clements. Sophia Hess. If it were us that they were attacking, we would've taken them apart with our powers. You would've broken them with words and secrets…"

"And you would've broken them with claws and tendrils and murder." She finished for him. She glanced around the room, as though looking for someone. No, not looking. Making sure that they were alone. When she turned back, she wasn't smiling anymore. "My powers are telling me that you and I _both_ know that she originally wanted to a hero."

He blinked. His memories told him that was one way people showed that they were surprised by something. "Have you always known?"

"Yes. But I also saw that what she wanted, what she _needed_ , was friends. So that's why I pretended that she might've been a villain and let her join."

"Alright. But it doesn't answer my question."

"Tell me, how would you define a hero?"

"Someone who obeys the law, protects the weak and the innocent from criminals preying on them. Follows a strict set of rules on what they can and can't do. Brings all criminals in alive." He was reciting everything his memories had on comic book superheroes. It was a contradictory list at times, but that's what happens when you generalise something.

Tattletale nodded. "And most of the time, they don't use their powers for personal gain. Especially getting revenge."

He folded his arms. "So Taylor wants them left alone because she's working on some naïve bullshit on how she should be better than them." He frowned. "That's the part I don't get. Why?"

Alex, you and I are villains. We're used to breaking the rules, doing whatever we want. That's why we'd make terrible heroes."

"Figured that out myself. It's why I didn't join the Protectorate."

She changed tack. "I'm sure we've all got some form of rules. Like for you, if someone wrongs you, then you make them pay for it. Or how if you're being paid to keep people alive, you'll make sure they survive. Taylor's got rules too. One of them is that you don't go seeking revenge with your powers. Not if they're not parahumans."

"Why?"

"Because if she attacked them with her bugs? Well, I don't think they've got a list of suspects. She'd be outing herself as a cape. And not all of us have the ability to steal someone's face and hide." The words. They still sounded so similar. The same things just said differently each time. Taylor wouldn't hurt or kill them because she had rules, she wanted to be better than them. He would kill them because he was a monster. He still didn't understand _why_ she had these rules.

Maybe he never would. An unfortunate side effect of seeing human morality through the eyes of a pathogen. It was just so alien to him that he couldn't understand it.

He sighed. "I still don't get it. They hurt her. They nearly ruined her life. And for what reason? Because they _could_? Because she was an easy target?"

Tattletale shook her head. "I'm pretty sure that Sophia thought like that. But Madison and Emma… My powers are telling me it's not that simple. Only thing is, it's harder when I'm working with incomplete data. I could even get things wrong."

He waved a hand. "Forget about them. I just want to try and understand Taylor."

"I know you do. But I'm getting the feeling that you _can't_. You guys are just too different. The only thing you've got in common is that you're not good with people. Taylor because the bullying fucked her up; and you because you're…" She frowned. "A bioweapon? Seriously?"

He felt his phone vibrate inside his biomass. It was pushed to his hand within seconds. A text from Coil. He wanted a meeting with him. A job.

He pushed away from the wall he was leaning against. "Yeah. I'm a bioweapon." He shook his head. "Fine. I'll let her do her thing. I'll leave them alone, even though they fucking deserve it. I still don't get it, but I'll accept it. I guess."

Well, that had been a complete waste of time. It would probably be a _lot_ more productive if he just accepted that Taylor was weird and went on with his life. Plus or minus some getting told off by Taylor.

As much as he would rather just call Coil to get his orders, he knew this was more than just about them. It was Coil trying to test the waters on how much Alex will obey before he tells him to fuck off. And the more Alex acted up just to be contrary, the more likely that Coil might put in some counter-measures. Better to just play along for now; after all, only an idiot fucks with his meat shield.

So Alex ran to Coil's location like a dog returning to his master, eager for a bone and a chin-scratch. Coil must've left barely a few minutes before he texted Alex, because when he arrived Coil was just stepping out of his limo. Alex glided down towards him, landing more softly than he normally would've. He saw Coil start as he noticed Alex in his costume.

"You're faster than I was expecting." Coil remarked. "In that case, I will be brief. As I said last time, Empire Eighty-Eight is my main threat right now. Everyone else is either too disorganised, too weak, or working with me to impede me. But few of my soldiers are parahumans. Triple-E has to get lucky once or twice, and I will be set back by days, maybe even weeks."

Alex nodded He had reached the same conclusions himself. Sure, Coil's men were good. If they were back home he'd rate them as ex-Blackwatch even. But the other side had parahumans. It was like setting soldiers against Hunters; they'd get lucky and do enough damage, but a single Hunter could still wipe them out if it had enough time. "You want me to cull them for you? Kill off their capes and leave the rest to you?"

Coil shook his head. "While effective, that would take too long. And I am worried that Kaiser, in his desperation, would offer you a sum that even _I_ couldn't match. No, there's an easier way to deal with them. We cut the head off the snake."

"You _do_ realise that won't work long term. Sure, short term wise there will be chaos and disorganisation. You could take a lot of ground from them while they're still reeling. But someone will take over, and then they'll start pushing back. There will be someone else ready to offer me more to kill you."

"Ah, but you don't know them quite like I do. I've actually figured out most of their secrets. Tell me, how much do you know about Purity and Hookwolf?"

Purity. Female, rated as Blaster 8 and Mover 4. Uses some kind of kinetically charged light to both fly and attack. Easily one of the more destructive capes in Brockton Bay, causing more damage than even he could do. Has been spotted attacking criminals, disrupting their crimes and business hold outs. Only been seen attacking coloured gangs though. Recent behaviour suggests that she's trying to become a super hero. Held back by her racism.

Hookwolf. Male, Brute 7 and Changer 4. Can use metal he conjures from… somewhere to replace flesh with metal. Usually blades, hooks, and needles. Favours the form of a wolf. Began as a parahuman underground fighter before murdering the manager. Definitely a villain.

He understood now. "Hookwolf and Purity both see themselves as the next in charge of Empire Eighty-Eight. But they're too different in morality. Neither one's going to step down."

Coil nodded. "And therefore, their infighting will splinter Empire Eighty-Eight into two much more manageable sizes. There will be even more losses as they fight for resources. By the time they've finished sorting themselves out and consolidating their power, I will have won."

Alex nodded in return. At least this mission wasn't going to end up a waste of time. "In that case, perhaps you can tell me what you've learnt about Kaiser that'll help me find him."

"Of course. His real name is…"

* * *

Max Anders glanced at his expensive watch as he headed into his offices. In his hands were sheets listing sales and losses across the entire Medhall Corporation line. So far, things were looking good. Sales were up across the board, no doubt helped by the injuries suffered during the ABB attacks and the Undersiders' party crashing. His scientists were currently working on a new drug that was at least fifty percent faster when dealing with flus and colds. With any luck, they could roll it out by the winter season in time for all the runny noses and coughing fits.

Underneath them all though, on his personal tablet, were reports from his Empire.

Things weren't going as well as he hoped they would. Coil was a slippery bastard, and his men just as annoying. He would be arrogant to consider them mere fleas; they were like wasps actually. Smaller and weaker than his side, but still capable of doing some damage if he wasn't careful. Their battles were swinging like a pendulum. Coil would take some of his territory; he would send Purity or Hookwolf to clear them out. They would scamper from the fight; another team would attack another area. If he forced Purity or Hookwolf to stop them, the first team would move back in and fortify. If he ignored them, he lost a different patch of land.

He needed to find their base of operations. The location they scampered to in order to hide and lick their wounds. If only Blacklight hadn't taken himself out of the game; he would've paid any amount to get him to deal with Coil. And perhaps he could've convinced him to stay. Reveal that he only faked his belief in white supremacy to get followers.

"Welcome, Mr Anders." Pauline, his secretary, greeted him. "Shall I inform your one o'clock that you have arrived?"

"No thank you. I might have to reschedule today. Important _private_ matters have unfortunately come up again."

"Oh dear. Another custody battle with Miss Anders?"

"No, no. Kayden and I are on better terms these days. At least, we can talk without her wanting to kill me now." He gave off a small chuckle. Kayden still blamed him for making her the way she is now. Ridiculous. The feelings had always been there; he just allowed her to vocalise them. "Though this _is_ going to be taking up a lot of my time."

"I understand, Sir. I'll reschedule all your appointments for today."

"Thank you." He knew he couldn't put them off forever – he had learnt how to juggle Kaiser and Max Anders successfully already – but today, Coil was just taking up too much of his mind. He needed to be sharp, he needed to be focused. Kaiser could think about Coil and still be focused. Anders couldn't do the same.

He was just contemplating finding some way of reaching Blacklight when he felt hands grip his head. Instantly, he speared metal upwards to kill his assailant. So, Coil found a way into his offices. Given the distance and the lack of people, he must've recruited…

But he gasped as his head was twisted. The spikes hadn't been enough. Pauline was somehow still able to attack him. Did he have a parahuman under his nose and not realise it? But he couldn't follow that line of thought anymore.

In the time it had taken for his cooling brain to think all of that, his biomass had been consumed. His memories were already integrated. A Trigger memory about Allfather holding him down against a metal floor, threatening to kill him, came to mind. His shard was captured.

By the time he had wondered whether he had a parahuman spy, those thoughts belonged to Alex Mercer.

* * *

Alex saw the first signs of chaos when he left Medhall shortly afterwards. Lots of people were standing outside a nearby electronics store, watching the TVs they had set up in the shop window. Others were glancing at their phones and tablets. One person walking the streets – Fog in civilian wear – was attracting weird glances from people who passed him. Alex pushed past the crowd in front of the store. Enough people were watching it that it _had_ to give him some idea of what was going on.

The news reporter was talking about an email they had received from an unknown source. The contents of the email were ground-breaking in terms of dealing with the criminal community.

It was every last detail about every Triple-E parahuman.

Well, that explained why people were backing away from him.

"Goddammit Coil." He muttered, running away. It was easy enough to ditch the crowds. He just had to enter the closest alleyway, and shapeshift. From there, no one would be looking for Alex…

"Going somewhere, Kaiser?" Battery stood in his way. He looked behind him to see Assault waiting at the other end. Above, he saw Armsmaster glaring down at him.

He and Coil were going to have a talk about this afterwards.

"Fuck my life." He sighed, before unleashing a metal devastator. It was weaker and far slower than the real thing, but it forced them away from him. At the same time, he coated himself in metal, to resemble Kaiser. When Armsmaster sliced through his shell, Alex was ready to fight.

Armsmaster ducked his first punch, but he was used to a mortal man. Not someone who could move just as fast lifting a car as he did without. His next punch landed, launched him away. He steadied himself with his halberd, looked up at Alex in surprise. Battery jumped over the spikes, and Alex blocked her off with more. She landed on one, jumped to another, and kept up like that to get close. Alex waited until she was in the air, merely feet away from him, before he focused the metal into a battering ram.

Too slow, too late. She crashed into him, bounced off him. He punched her back up, and _then_ the ram hit her. Assault jumped up to catch her, and she kicked him towards Alex. Alex created a shield, but it barely got high enough to block.

What the hell? How did Kaiser get to be in charge with such a weak power?

No. This wasn't right. He had seen footage of Kaiser in action, saw him fighting against the ABB. His spikes were faster than Alex's were. Something else was at work.

His shards were failing him.

"Fucking hell." He cursed. He focused solely on Kaiser's Trigger, and pulled the metal into a sphere around himself. He could hear the heroes bashing their way inside. But it would take time. Time enough for him to escape.

He stabbed the ground with one hand, created a tunnel for his biomass to escape. He flowed down it like a river, coming back up around the corner. From there, he became Alex again, and ran for it.

Something was muddling up his powers. Something he couldn't explain just yet. And now he was worried that he would lose them altogether.

Time to start with something he had been planning for a while.

* * *

"I should apologise, Blacklight." Coil was saying over the phone. "I _should've_ warned you of what I was doing. But I had to work quickly before they could start hiding, and I was worried that I would blow your cover if I called you."

"I'm not stupid, Coil. I've got ways to subtly answer a damn phone without giving myself away." Alex replied, one hand inside a box. "But you nearly screwed me over. I went out there as Max Anders in broad daylight, right when everyone found out that he was Kaiser. Three members of the Protectorate were waiting for me. I had to pretend that I was Kaiser still, unless I wanted to give away that I had replaced the leader of Empire Eighty-Eight. And I bet that you sent me specifically _because_ of my powers."

A pause. "I won't deny that I would find using Kaiser's face and personality a little bit longer. But I'd be foolish to put all my eggs into one basket."

"Well if you're not careful, I'll break all those eggs for you." Dana walked into the room, a whiteboard in her hands. She had written something onto it. He nodded to her. "And I also have concerns that this breaks the unwritten rules. I thought you weren't supposed to out people."

"I didn't. Well, not entirely. I sent that information to the PRT. I figured I could let _them_ arrest the capes, maybe find Kaiser in case he slipped past you. I respect your powers, but Kaiser's been running a powerful organisation for years now."

"You still should've told me. It made things _real_ awkward for me. I got away just fine, but they're still going to wonder how a guy who can only make metal managed to pull off a disappearing act like that. From now on, you keep me in the loop about this kind of shit. I don't care if you still go through with it or not. Just don't you dare fucking blindside me like that again." He hang up on Coil, still feeling annoyed.

"Do you think Coil's going to agree on keeping you in the loop?" Dana asked him, putting down the whiteboard and sitting near him.

"He'll have to. He hired me because he didn't want me becoming his enemy; pissing me off like this is going to be counterproductive to his goals. But if he screws up like that again…" He left the threat unsaid. They both knew what he would do. He looked inside the box again, seeing how it was going.

"Ok, I know that you do some freaky shit with your virus powers sometimes, but I've really gotta ask. What the hell are you doing?"

"Creating a head." He answered.

"A head. In a box."

He nodded. "When I used Kaiser's power today, it started off weaker than normal. And then it just kept getting weaker and weaker during the fight. Want to preserve it in case I might lose it altogether." He waved a hand at the box. "Figured that maybe I should keep it separate. At least until I figure out why it did that."

"Good luck with _that_ , Alex. I seriously doubt this is something you can just google for. Even the capes who can borrow powers probably don't do it like you do."

"I know. But at least with these around, I can afford to experiment. If it ever starts slipping, I can just put it back in the head." When he had looked inside his own skull (metaphorically) he had actually seen that the shard was smaller than the others. And they were definitely shrinking. As soon as he got Kaiser's power out, they started returning to normal.

Annoying. He didn't want to have to be limited to just two powers. He'd like to have at least three to give him variety.

An unfamiliar ringtone filled the air. Dana looked around in surprise. "Shit." Alex cursed. "Kaiser's phone. I forgot I kept hold of that."

"Better answer it then. With all their identities revealed, the Empire's going to want some answers."

"I know, I know." He answered it, his voice box shifting to Kaiser's DNA as he accessed the memories he gained from him. The screen had listed the caller as one 'Brad Meadows'. Hookwolf. "Hookwolf. I already know what this call is going to be about."

"Then where are they?!" Hookwolf nearly shouted at him. Alex had to pull the phone away to avoid his eardrums from being damaged. He could heal them easily enough, but it was a hassle anyway. "Where the hell are the Undersiders?!"

The Undersiders? Why was Hookwolf focusing on _them_? How were they even linked to the outing of the entire Triple-E? "You'll have to forgive me, Hookwolf. My mind's been a little preoccupied after escaping the Protectorate's attempt to arrest me. Perhaps you could explain why we should devote our efforts to hunting down the Undersiders instead of finding the real culprits."

"They _are_ the real culprits." Hookwolf growled. "They used that Tattletale bitch to out us, right after Swarm and Bitch fucked with my boys. There's no fucking way those two aren't connected."

Ah. Well, that explained some things. He could actually understand now why he would blame the Undersiders. Still, it seemed unfair to let them suffer because Coil fucked up.

"Actually Hookwolf, my sources tell me that those two events _aren't_ connected. It appears that some 'upstanding' citizen handed all our identities to the PRT, planning on letting _them_ deal with us. Guess Director Piggot decided that we were a big enough problem to break the rules over. I'd be flattered if this weren't so… inconvenient."

He heard Hookwolf breathing heavily over the phone. He already knew what he was going to do. It was what _he_ would do too. "I'm going to…"

"Grab every cape you can from our ranks and go to the PRT. Splendid idea. Perhaps it will convince them to never try something so short-sighted ever again." His phone started beeping. Another caller. Likely another member of Triple-E. "If you'll excuse me, I have another call coming. But one thing I wish to say; don't go after the Undersiders. I don't want you wasting any of our resources hunting down the wrong people. We'll need _everyone_ if we're planning on getting out of this alive." He hung up on him, answered the next number. He barely got to say anything before he had to pull the phone away from his ear.

 **"THEY HAVE HER!"** A shrill voice shrieked at him. It took him several seconds to recognise it as Purity's voice. Kayden. Kaiser's ex-wife. **"WHERE IS SHE?!"**

She. There was only one female Kaiser could remember that Kayden would be so angry and protective about. Aster. Her baby daughter.

He sighed. "I'll find her, Kayden. But you have to give me time. I didn't even know they had taken her until you…"

 **"WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT IS THAT?! YOU DAMN FUCKING BASTARD, YOU DON'T EVEN GIVE A CRAP ABOUT HER! FINE! IF YOU AREN'T GOING TO LIFT A FUCKING FINGER TO HELP HER, THEN I'LL DO IT MYSELF!"**

"Kayden!" He shouted. But she had already hung up on him. "Shit. Purity's going on a war path. I think the PRT took her kid away from her."

"I'll start looking for her. There's got to a memo or something about Purity's kid." Dana said. She only just got started when Alex's phone started ringing. Coil.

"Blacklight, there has been a change in plans." Coil said when Alex answered. "I want you to go out there, and kill Purity and her team."

Alex raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you wanted her and Hookwolf fighting each other. Beating each other up while you took more ground."

"Unfortunately, one of my men believed that she would pay more money to learn of my involvement. I have dealt with him before he could talk, but he still managed to get a message out. It won't be long before she connects the dots to me."

"That's what happens when you fuck with an entire criminal organisation, Coil. They tend to get pissed off with you." He was tempted to leave Coil to rot. Let him pay for his stupidity. But after the fundraiser, the PRT would be more interested in him than ever. He needed Coil to keep the heat off him. "Fine. I'll do it. I'll get them off your back." He hung up without a goodbye; now wasn't the time for pleasantries.

"Feels kind of wrong to kill her." Dana said. "I mean, she's just trying to get her kid back."

He shrugged. "If you've got a different idea, I'm all ears."

"Actually, I do. It'll take the heat off Coil, some heat off _you_ , and maybe even get Hookwolf away from the PRT."

"Only thing is, it's going to need you to do some acting."

* * *

Armsmaster watched as Purity started tearing into an area of the docks. Part of him wanted to jump in and stop her – he'd gain a lot of fame for stopping this mindless rampage – but he forced himself to wait. This was but the bait. The real prize was still coming.

Against someone like Blacklight, he was likely to only have one shot at them.

He knew there would likely be hell if anyone found out that he had released the data to the public. It may have been on Piggot's direct orders, but _he_ was the one who emailed it out. When Battery and Assault went out to arrest Kaiser, he joined them to see if there was some way he could ensure that the villain would get away and target Blacklight. No need from that front. He simply encased himself in a ball of metal and vanished. He was still wondering how he did that. From there, it was easy to pretend to be a 'concerned citizen' and ask whether a supervillain was capable of looking after a child. Child's services came round and 'rescued' young Aster, and now Purity was unleashing her rage upon the city.

If Kayden Anders didn't want her child taken from her, then she should've joined the Protectorate instead of running back to Kaiser.

He tapped into his comms. "Dragon, are all the cameras operational?" He asked.

"They are, just like the last two times you've asked since Purity started attacking." Dragon replied. He liked her. She was considered the world's greatest Tinker, which meant that she was one of the few people capable of understanding him when he talked shop. And she didn't seem to hassle him as much about the things he said. She simply accepted them and they continued working. He knew that the others weren't like that. Sure, to him his decisions and words made sense. But to the others, he seemed to come across as… Well, hell if he knew what they thought. Arrogant, cruel, rude, vain. It still rankled him that he was stagnating simply because he didn't know the right thing to say at times. He could put down plenty of villains; that should be enough for _anyone_. Instead, all the problems Brockton Bay suffered meant that _someone's_ career was in danger. It was just his damn luck that it was _his_.

Blacklight was his last chance. Unless he could bring him in… Well, he'd be lucky to get anything besides 'unofficial sidekick'. He had put in too much work and effort just to get side-lined.

"Good. This time, I want to catch Blacklight arriving. See if there's some pattern to his arrivals or disguises." After they had found out he was a Changer, he had been wondering just how powerful it was. How long could it last for? How effective was it against security? The more they learned, the better his chances.

"Of course. I will let you know as…" She paused. "Hold on. Found him. Eastern quadrant."

"Bring him on screen." He replied, tapping away at the computer before him. As he did so, he moved a little bit closer to that area. Piggot would rather have had him do this back at the PRT office, but he wanted to be right there near the fight. Just in case the cameras missed something crucial. As he vaulted to the next rooftop, the holographic screen before him activated. It showed an empty alleyway, populated by nothing but garbage. But then a black shape skidded into view. It grabbed the road with one hand, letting itself turn into the alleyway at speed. He came to a halt, and his program studied his composition through the sensitive equipment he had shoved inside it.

A man wearing organic armour plating. It's him alright.

"Where is he now?"

"Still waiting there. I think he might be in communications with someone. I could try and hack it if you…"

"Do so." He said curtly. He had an ally? Was it Tattletale, perhaps? Maybe they might let something slip over the comms, something crucial.

"Damn. Missed my chance. He's moving again." Dragon said. And indeed, the camera showed Blacklight jumping straight up. But there was something off; his body seemed different. Shorter, leaner. His armour was changing composition, no longer registering as organic-based.

"So, you're the fat hussy Kaiser dumped me for." Armsmaster looked up as a female voice filled the air. Purity stopped blasting, turned towards the voice.

There was a woman wearing metal armour, red lines going down her curves. Blades stuck out near her elbows and knees, claws on her hands and feet. The upper part of her face was covered by a stylised swastika, leaving the lower half visible. She had put on far too much makeup, making her appear worse than she would've been.

He also noted that she was standing on the roof just above the alleyway Blacklight had been in.

"That him?" He asked Dragon.

"I'm going to assume so. As a Changer, a female form shouldn't be too difficult. But something doesn't feel right. He's never shown signs of crafting armour from metal before." He – or rather, _she_ – was talking again. Made up some story about how she had been Kaiser's secret lover. Had the best of everything, until Purity came back and he threw her aside. So when she heard her real identity, she stole her baby as repayment. "Why is he saying this stuff? Child Services were the ones who grabbed the kid."

"Deflection, perhaps? If Purity's busy hunting him down, then she can't be attacking the city now then, can she?" Purity wasted no time in trying to get retribution. She fired a beam at the building, sheared the top off like a knife through butter.

But Blacklight had already started moving.

His speed was still the same, he noted. But instead of attacking with weapons formed from his body, Blacklight seemed to be acting like a Tinker. Metal wings spread out from his back, and when he jumped a blast of air pushed him forwards. He would've slammed into Purity if she hadn't dodged it at the last second. Only Blacklight fired a wire, pulling her down as soon as it wrapped around her leg. Armsmaster heard something break. Rune – a telepathic who could only affect things she had touched - tossed part of a building at Blacklight, but he simply grabbed it and threw it back. Rune managed to stop it, just in time for Blacklight to smash through it. Crusader created two of his 'ghosts' – some kind of projection – and used them to fight back. Blacklight found the same problem others had faced when fighting him.

They couldn't hurt his ghosts, but the ghost can hurt them back.

Growling at their onslaught, Blacklight barged through and aimed for Crusader. But the distraction gave Rune enough time to recover more ammo. Blacklight formed two large metal shields covered in spikes, surrounding himself in them and weathering the assault. Crusader's ghosts phased through the shield. Inside, they were likely running Blacklight through.

Without being able to see anything, Armsmaster started mulling things over and thinking out loud.

"We haven't seen any signs of metal manipulation before now." He said aloud. "All previous signs have merely been biological manipulation."

"Indeed. As this 'Hitleress', Blacklight is showing powers more like Hookwolf's. Perhaps his _real_ power is different than we expected."

Like Hookwolf, yes. Or like… His eyes widened as he realised something.

"Dragon, how thorough do you think Blacklight's control over his own body is?"

"Hmm. Hard to say without a proper test. He can heal lethal wounds, and my thermal cameras show that this form of his isn't a projection. If I would have to guess, I would say that it's _very_ thorough. Perhaps even greater than Panacea's control over biological manipulation."

Earlier today, Battery, Assault and I caught Max Anders trying to escape his own building. We confronted him, but he managed to disappear on us. The only clue we had was a hole about ten inches wide. Far too small for a person to go through…"

"But likely not too small for Blacklight." She finished. On camera, Blacklight had managed to surprise them. He came smashing up through the roof behind them, grabbing Rune by the face and slamming her to the ground. Immediately, all hovering debris fell back down. Crusader focused on defence, surrounding himself with his ghosts. They brandished their spears menacingly, standing in Blacklight's way.

He merely smirked, and pointed a hand at him. There was a hole in the palm. The lines on his arm pulsed as he fired some kind of orb at Crusader. His ghosts moved to intercept, but the orbs dodged them and circled overhead. Some were stopped, but those that got through managed to throw Crusader some distance.

"What the hell was that?"

"I… wouldn't have a damn clue. Biological attacks aren't my area of expertise. It appeared to be some sort of energy orb, though what it's _really_ made of is unknown. But whatever it is, it hits hard."

"So does Purity." Armsmaster noted. She had recovered enough to fire a beam at Blacklight, catching him unawares. Through the light she made, he saw Blacklight get thrown to the ground level, parts of his metal armour fragmenting.

He also noted dimly that Blacklight was anatomically correct.

"According to the cameras in that area, Night and Fog are waiting for him." Dragon said. He cursed. Dragon's power required that she wasn't being observed. Fog would spot the cameras, and either destroy them or blind them. Valuable data would be lost.

"I'm getting closer." He said. At least this way he could bring Purity and her lot in. He ran towards their rooftop, pausing long enough to knock Purity unconscious. He knelt down by the ledge, helmet already pinpointing Blacklight. As he watched, Blacklight's armour started growing, covering the areas that had been damaged. Within seconds, it was like he had never been blasted.

 _Definitely like Kaiser's power_ , he noted. Hookwolf's was more that he replaced his actual body with a metal one. Question was, how did he get his power? Was he a Trump as well? What were the full extents of his powers?

Well, that was what these fights are for.

* * *

Alex felt completely and absolutely ridiculous. This whole thing was so embarrassing it physically hurts him.

He had to come out here, acting like some stupid jilted lover, and go by the _completely_ idiotic name of 'Hitleress'. Really Dana? Hitleress? He knew he was pretending to be the lover of a white supremacist, even he would expect some fucking Nazis to have better taste than _that_.

The whole thing probably would've fallen apart if Purity wasn't so pissed off about her kid.

So Purity, Rune, and Crusader were down for the count. That beam of hers was pretty nasty, but the armour he made was a godsend. For starters, Kaiser's power couldn't run out on him like his biomass could. He just had to have metal for it grow on, and he'd have more than enough. Thank god for the complete breakdown of the laws of physics. Now, he just needed to jump back up from the other side, break her neck, consume her, and then…

Something slammed into him at great speed, hard enough to throw him into the wall. He felt large blades slicing grooves into his back, tearing into his biomass. Alex lashed out wildly, but his attacker had already moved away. He turned to see two people at the end of the alley. One female, on male. Both wore the same cloak, the same cowl. Only the different colours told him who was who.

Night and Fog. One could turn into a living fog, the other could turn into a monster.

 _Damn_ she was fast.

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a flashbang, tossing it into the air. As soon as it had detonated, she was on him again. Alex had formed two shields, both made of biomass and metal, and was weathering her assault. But she could hit just as hard as him in less time. His barriers were cracking under the assault and the claws. He pulled them apart and glared her, now in her normal form. She dropped a flashbang at his feet, but not before he broke one arm free of its shield and punched her in the face. She went flying backwards.

When the flashbang went off, she was on him again.

Alex felt his face get sliced, his eyes ripped out. Focusing on instincts, he simply threw punch after punch, not holding back. His fists collided with something, and there was a loud crash as it careened into a wall. He healed his face in time to see Night sitting inside a hole in the wall, struggling to her feet. He dashed towards her just as Fog closed in, trying to block his view. His fist found her face; she grunted as something went crack.

He let tendrils through to taste her. Her cells were still full and alive. He hadn't killed her yet.

The fog swept in, trying to suffocate him, to poison him. His biomass forced the poison out as he held his breath. But he couldn't keep this up indefinitely. Hell, he didn't even know how long he could hold his breath for.

Time to clear the air.

He slammed his fists together, creating a pocket of air around him. Fog was forced away as the air was pushed away. Now that he could breath, Alex formed his roaring mouth on both shoulders. He roared loudly and fiercely as he turned on the spot, the air rushing out of him pushing more and more fog away.

He saw the fog recoil, pull itself back to a single point. They were sizing each other up, trying to identify weaknesses and flaws. But before they could keep going, the Undersiders came barrelling in. The fog turned towards them.

Well, fighting capes was the risk of being a villain. He used that moment of distraction to jump towards the roof. His mission was still clear. Kill Purity. And he intended to.

She was now unconscious, her injuries likely too much for her. Without delay, he rammed his arm into her stomach. His tendrils fed on her, and he consumed her alive. He searched for the most traumatic memories, the ones the shard responded to. A memory of losing control of a car, crashing down in a ditch. Alive, but trapped, no one near to hear her. Starving down there, getting weaker and weaker as help never showed.

Powers triggered.

Grunting, wondered if he should take the others too. But he still didn't know why Kaiser's power grew so weak before. He couldn't risk them yet. Better to wait for another time, after he learnt more about how the shards interacted. Besides, his orders were to eliminate Purity. She's a part of him now, and that was good enough for Coil. Thank god though that he didn't try to consume her while she was conscious. Her mama bear thoughts might've overwhelmed his own.

He jumped away, letting himself appear to be hobbling and pressing a hand against a wound. With any luck, they will assume that Hitleress bled out from her injuries. And he can ditch this ridiculous disguise.

But as he left, he didn't realise that the cameras hidden around had seen everything.

* * *

Later that night, Armsmaster was back in his room. He had his screen set up to play every minute of footage from every camera they had set up. Some ended abruptly, destroyed by Purity's rampage. Other showed hours of nothing, too far from the fights. And then there were the ones that _had_ caught something. Had seen Blacklight in action.

But right now, Armsmaster and Dragon had eyes only for one screen. The one that had caught Blacklight in the act. They watched as large claws ripped their way through the metal gauntlet, had skewered Purity through the chest. Then they saw how tendrils flowed from them towards her, growing bigger and bigger as she shrank in size and shape. He slurped her down until there wasn't a drop left of her. Then he clutched his head, stumbled a bit, before his body changed under the armour. The new shape matched Purity's figure and anatomy. He shifted back into Hitleress, and walked away before settling for a limb. Armsmaster stopped the footage, played it again. And again. And again.

He had learned more about Blacklight from this single battle than they had learnt for the month or so he had been active for. But what they had learnt made him both worry and feel excited.

If he messed up, he would likely die. Die painfully, maybe.

But if he succeeded, he would regain his old position and _more_.

But he'd only have one shot at taking him down. Failure was _not_ an option.

"I know what you're thinking." Dragon said, interrupting his musings. She was watching the same footage, probably thinking the same things.

"Do you?" He replied, clicking on another shot. The few glimpses he had gotten of his fight against Night. There wasn't much, aside from the fact that he threw her aside and through a wall.

"Yes. Blacklight wasn't using something _like_ Kaiser's power. It _is_ Kaiser's power. _Was_ his power."

Ah. Yes. That was just as troubling. "Explains how Kaiser escapes though. We must've attacked him minutes after he killed the racist bastard." He mulled over that for a moment. "We can't send other capes to help fight him. If we hurt him enough, he could decide to take their powers."

"Odd that he didn't go after Rune or Crusader." Dragon noted. "If I were in his place, I'd consider their powers worth taking. With his speed and agility, he could tag multiple items to throw at us."

"Maybe there is a limit on how many powers he can have. Or maybe they degrade over time. When he was Kaiser, he was weaker than the man himself normally was. Maybe we can use that."

"There's something else we can use too. When I used the thermal cameras, he showed up much hotter than any normal living thing. Could be a side effect of his powers. If he tries to hide himself in a crowd, then we could use that to find him again."

"Brilliant. Guess there _is_ a flaw to his Changer powers after all." One of the biggest problems of fighting a Changer was that they would pretend to be a squad mate. Or a civilian. Sneak up on you and stab you in the back that way. "Automated suits will be more effective against him."

"I agree."

"The biggest problem though is _still_ his physical attributes." He continued. "At least with most capes, you hit them hard enough, they go down. But not him. At least, not according to our data."

"I think our biggest theory is that he can manipulate his injuries on a cellular level. Let's him heal wounds as fast as we make them."

Armsmaster nodded. "From the data I got from the Fundraiser, blunt-force trauma doesn't do anything to him. It may actually be even _less_ effective than trying to carve him up. Velocity took him on, and according to him Blacklight didn't even react. I know Velocity doesn't hit all that hard while he's in his speed state…"

"But you'd think that someone of Blacklight's size would still be _somewhat_ affected by getting hit so many times." Dragon finished for him."

"Exactly." He nodded. His musings were interrupted as his phone started ringing. He answered it immediately. "Colin speaking." He said.

"I want you in the labs pronto." Piggot said. "We need to talk about that sample you found."

"Of course." Quick, easy, no attempt at brevity or kinship. Just straight-forward talk. He liked that kind of talk. If all talks were like that, then maybe he wouldn't have lost his position. "Piggot's found something interesting about Blacklight's DNA. Maybe she's got his secret identity."

"Maybe her lab boys have found some ground breaking secret about how his powers work." Dragon remarked back. "I'll talk to you some more when you get back."

"Sure. Just make sure you eat something though. We could be here a while."

"Plotting to take down one of the most varied capes on record isn't meant to be quick." He chuckled as he left. Something about her… he always felt more at ease around her. Was this love, based solely on an intellectual level? Possibly. But he swore he would never get into a romantic relationship. Never have a family. Too easy for the psychos out there to try and use either of them against him.

Besides, his career always come first. And he knew enough that no woman wanted second place to a job.

He found Piggot standing next to one of the lab boys, both looking at a sealed vial. Inside was the sample he had gotten from the fight; something Blacklight had left behind in the scuffle. The lab boy was animated, excited. Piggot, on the other hand, was watching the sample like she wanted to burn it.

He looked closer at the sample. Somehow, it was moving slightly. Shifting from side to side, like it was caught in a tide. It would change direction, flowing around the edge in a circle, before flowing back to the centre. It was… odd. He didn't know much about biology, but he was certain that it wasn't supposed to do that.

"Director." He said, his way of announcing his arrival. Used to be that he could walk into a room and people would immediately notice him. Not anymore.

Piggot turned towards him. "Armsmaster. Good job getting us that sample. It could very well be one of the biggest breakthroughs we've had on this guy."

"Really?" He said absentmindedly. Piggot turned to see what he had noticed. The sample was moving more now. Much more. And aggressively. He watched as it threw itself at the side of the vial, pushing it slightly towards him. It bounced around, the vial tilting from side to side. This thing… it wanted to get out. It was angry.

The lab boy grabbed the vial, and he secured it to a stand which was in turn bolted to the table. The sample kept bouncing, but the vial stopped moving. It eventually stopped, settling down at the bottom.

The lab boy turned to him. Well, boy was the wrong word. A black man, easily in his forties. He held out a hand to shake. "Armsmaster, Sir. Glad to meet you in person. Name's Ragland. Bit of a fan."

He didn't shake. "Charmed. Now, what have you learnt about this… thing?"

I've learnt a lot already. This thing, it's pushing the boundaries on all thing biological. It could change the world of medicine so easily. I feel like I've discovered the philosopher's stone. Or the Rosetta Stone."

"Ragland, you're babbling." Piggot interrupted him.

"Of course. Sorry, Director. Just… A quick question. Your notes said that you recovered this from an altercation between Blacklight and Night?"

Armsmaster nodded. "It's a piece of Blacklight, sheared off during the fight."

"I see. In that case, that explains quite a lot about him."

"What do you mean?" Piggot asked.

"This sample… I haven't been able to get much out of it yet. But what I _can_ tell you is that this thing was _not_ created by some kind of power. It hasn't been influenced or enhanced or anything."

"Are you saying it's natural?" Piggot was frowning. He had to agree with her. The way it had been acting, everything about it suggested that it was completely _un_ natural.

"Yes. And… Well, this is just speculation at the moment. But I think… No, I'm almost _certain_ that it means that Blacklight _isn't_ a parahuman."

"What?"

"His powers don't come from the same place as everyone else's. They're simply the end result of biology, tinkering on a genetic level. He was _born_ with his powers."

Silence. Armsmaster was wrapping his head around this. Blacklight's powers weren't breaking the laws of physics. He was simply… using an extension of them. Bending them, but not the same amount as other broke them.

And if they were part of his DNA, then this sample could very well tell them _everything_ he was capable of.

"I can't tell if this is good news, or bad news." Piggot said.

Ragland shrugged. "Well, there's a bit of both, really. The good news is that if we can tap into the sample safely, we could actually mass produce his powers. Or at least the enhanced strength, speed, and durability."

"Tap into it safely? Is that the bad news?" He asked.

"In a way. Come with me." He grabbed the vial with the sample, and led them to the back of the room. There, there was a large Plexiglas container with a dead pig inside. A smaller chamber was built into the side, complex machinery inside. Ragland slotted the vial inside it, and the sample was sucked out. The machinery separated it, pulling away a tiny bit of it. It could've rested on someone's pinkie fingernail with room to spare. The tiny piece was dropped into the larger section. One lab boy stood next to it, hand on a button and ready to use it. Another was holding onto a stopwatch.

The sample squirmed around a bit before it finally noticed the pig. From there, it scurried over incredibly fast to latch onto it. The guy with the stopwatch started it up; the sample buried into the side of the pig.

Almost immediately, things started happening.

Tendrils started climbing out of the hole it had made, growing bigger and bigger as they moved. The skin of the pig started turning red and black, and more tendrils grew. Those tendrils linked together, binding themselves into a large limb. Four limbs were made; the head grew a mouth.

In only a few seconds, a dead pig was now some kind of monster.

Stopwatch man nodded. Ragland turned to the man with the button. He pressed it down, and the box was filled with fire. The Plexiglas started cracking as it lashed out wildly, trying to break free. But it lasted long enough that it had died, a burning pile of ash at the bottom of the box.

They kept the fire going longer, just in case.

Ragland turned back to them. "The bad news is that the sample is aggressive. And it doesn't take kindly to being near others besides Blacklight. My theory is that if we try to inject it into a person, try to give them his powers, it would kill them within seconds. Leave us with something… dangerous."

"I'm worried that if we push Blacklight too far, to the brink of defeat, we could be looking at another Nilbog." Armsmaster discreetly looked at Piggot. Her face was tight, and her hands were clenched. One was pressed against her side, where her kidneys would've been.

She had once been a PRT officer. Until she was sent to deal with a supervillain by the name of Nilbog. She was one of the only two survivors, from three teams that were sent in.

This would likely be that nightmare all over again.

Piggot took a deep breath. But her hands were still shaking. "Armsmaster." She said.

"I've only got one shot at this. I know." He replied, somewhat testily.

"No." She replied. "That wasn't what I was going to say. I was going to tell you to use every resource and break every rule to put this son of a bitch down."

"Ragland. I want you to assemble a team immediately. The same rules go for you. Pull out every last scrap from his DNA. Find a way we can use it without dying from it. Once we've dealt with Blacklight, we'll use his skills to clear out every last crook from Brockton Bay. If we do this right, we'll have one of the biggest successes in history."

"Director, if we fail, we'll likely cause one of the biggest _failures_ in history."

She turned to stare at him. "Then I'd suggest you make sure that you don't fail."

* * *

 **I wasn't too sure about whether to finish this chapter here, or to add something else to it. Maybe a meeting with the Undersiders after their fight with Fog (still not sure how exactly you'd beat him aside from lots of air pressure) or maybe a conversation between Alex and Dana about Hitleress. It was such a ridiculous name for a neo-Nazi that I just** _ **had**_ **to use it. But then again, Dana's probably read comics. And some heroes and villains have incredibly stupid names.**

 **You know the Spiderman villain, the Trapster? He used to be called Paste-Pot Pete. I'm not kidding. That was his name before Marvel realised how lame it was and gave him something** _ **slightly**_ **better.**

 **Anyway, I realised that there wasn't much else I could talk about except that we've finally reached a moment I have been waiting for for a long time. The start of some big changes in Brockton Bay.**

 **Leviathan finally found his invitation to Brockton Bay.**

 **And given the overwhelming support for it, Alex Mercer is going to take part in it.**

 **You may squee with excitement now.**

 **Something else I just want to say. Just my two cents, not all that important. I just feel like I shouldn't read about other great Worm fanfics out there. Not because I'm worried about stealing ideas from them (in this day and age, plenty of people have similar ideas anyway) but because I look at how they go completely off the rails and I feel like 'Wow they're so amazing and awesome', and then I look at this and think 'wow, I am so stuck on the rails'. I'm not the kind of guy who branches off wildly. I** _ **have**_ **taken down Lung and Oni Lee, but they could be in their canon situations for all that's changed. Having Alex kill Kaiser and Purity was my way of shaking things up. I think I stick to the rails so much because while I'm reading Worm, I'm thinking about how I could slot Alex into the situations they're in. And then I feel like I should follow the story to get those moments happening.**

 **Well, hopefully I'll finally jump** _ **somewhat**_ **off the rails with the next chapter.**

 **I left some questions in the last chapter as an edit, but I think most people probably missed them. So I'll ask again.**

 **Is Night affected by electronic sight or indirect sight? Would she change back to normal if a camera spotted her, or if someone watched her through smoke with a thermal camera? I side-stepped it somewhat here, but she'll feature again later.**

 **And is Fog affected by winds? Can he be blown away? I already used it here simply because I couldn't think of any other way one could stop him.**

 **Oh, and I** _ **might**_ **be hard to reach for a while. Going to our family Bach for ten days, where we don't have any actual internet. Just my dad's massive data plan. I'm still going to post chapters (especially after what I've just promised) but I'll probably be getting my emails at set points of the day.**

 **Anyway, have a happy new year.**

 **Edit: I am also aware that in the Wormverse, changes in past events mean that most or all people born after the Big Change (or whatever they call it) aren't actually around. And I'd put the Hope Idaho Event as Alex's world's Big Change (the project that tried to adapt the Virus to improve humans. Obviously didn't work out at all). But I felt that having our named scientist be Ragland himself would be a nice little in-joke. Please don't bite my head off or anything.**

 **(My more protective fans, please note that no one's threatened to bite my head off yet. I figured I would cut the reviews pointing out my mistake before they happen.)**


	7. Step 7 - Participate in a Grudge Match

**Well then, let me get a couple of things cleared up.**

 **First off, I want to apologise about Emma Barnes. I got some pretty damn important details wrong, and made what happened to her sound less important. Things like rape and scarring is** _ **not**_ **to be taken lightly,** _ **unless**_ **you are deliberately going for black/dead-baby comedy. And even then, you need to be careful about how you handle it.**

 **That said, what happened to her still doesn't justify what she's done to Taylor. It's just nowhere near as minor as I mistakenly made it.**

 **Second thing is that some people have noted that I messed up with the breathing thing. I can understand what they meant. When I said that Alex breathed, I was meaning something different from what we do. I remember from my high-school science classes that some microorganisms are considered Aerobic organisms - That means that they breath oxygen like we do – instead of Anaerobic, which means that they don't breath oxygen. When I looked them up, there was also mention of others that breath something other than oxygen, but we won't go over them here.**

 **What I'm saying is that in game, Alex always jumps out very quickly when he falls into water. I always figured it was because he needs to breathe. Apologies for any misunderstanding.**

 **Now, we've got a little clash in the reviews here. Nothing serious, just something I've noticed.**

 **Nefracture wants me to try and avoid having every fight being anti-climactic, and show that humanity isn't always the underdog against Alex. One plan I had was that Armsmaster would put up a damn good fight. But now toolazytologin wants me to not let Armsmaster put up a good fight against Alex, saying that Cross should be the only human who can match Alex. A bit of a dilemma. But I've decided that Cross managed to match Alex because he had explosives, lots of men, and knew a lot about what Alex would do. Armsmaster has that and** _ **much**_ **more, thanks to his tinker tech. I mean, canon-wise, he got closer to nearly killing Leviathan than anyone aside from Scion. It's only logical that he could give Alex a real fight. Aside from him, the only people I can see right now giving Alex trouble would be Crawler and Siberian. Everyone else, he just needs to move faster than them and hit them once or twice, and they're down and out.**

 **Oh, and finally I want to thank gomt8 for giving me the web address for a thread all about Alex's capabilities. That was very helpful, and will be useful for this story.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Step 7 – Participate In an Endbringer Grudge Match**

We had managed to escape our fight against Fog last week with our lives. Luckily for us, someone else had already dealt with Purity, Rune, Crusader, and Night. Armsmaster had dropped down, engaging all of us. We left him tearing into Fog and ran out of there. We had only gone because Purity was threatening to destroy the city and murder everyone her group ran across until we returned her baby to her. The moment she was dealt with (Armsmaster was probably behind _that_ too) we didn't need to stick around. At least, that's what the others argued. I wasn't up to fighting them; Brian had been injured during an altercation against Hookwolf and his men versus the PRT. Now, the news were ablaze with everything that had happened. Purity was arrested; Rune and Crusader too. Only Fog and Night managed to escape. Hookwolf was chased off, and the PRT claimed more land from the villains. Well, liberated really. Every other Empire Eighty-Eight cape went into hiding, their civilian lives ruined.

Kaiser had gone missing. Either he had jumped ship, or someone got to him before all hell broke loose.

Either way, this was likely the biggest loss Triple-E had suffered in a long time.

We were standing outside an abandoned construction site. I wasn't sure whether it was always like this, a project given up halfway through, or whether the builders just hadn't woken up again. Only Blacklight was in more civilian clothes; the rest of us were in costume. Hopefully the late night would stop people from recognising us.

Tattletale unlocked the door for us, leading the lot of us through the various debris and refuse of a construction site. Gravel, cement mixers, pipes left lying around. Eventually, we found ourselves before the hatch of a storm drain. A large pipe meant to direct large amounts of water down towards the sea, in case of flooding. They were usually dark, dank, and smelled something awful.

In other words, a good place to hide the entrance to a lair.

Tattletale led us towards a relatively clean passage of the drain. A hallway mostly devoid of water. On the far wall was a lone camera, and a door with no handle. Normally, we would be expected to wait. But we had barely stopped before a soldier opened the door for us. Blacklight pushed past him, the man visibly stumbling away. We followed him into a giant two-storied room. Metal walkways ran around the perimeter; the ground floor below had lots of boxes stacked around. A small army of soldiers were standing around, talking to each other. On one side of the room, the Travellers were clustered around a laptop. Over at the far end, Coil was talking to four people. All of them wore suits; none of them looked like villains. Lackeys, perhaps? Coil spotted us coming, and finished his discussion with them. They holstered their paperwork and left quickly; no doubt heading to deal with their current jobs.

"Undersiders. Blacklight." He greeted us. "I trust you've been having a quiet week?"

Grue shrugged. "More or less." He rolled his shoulders stiffly. Despite medical attention, he still bore the scars Cricket left on him. "We need to talk."

"And we shall. But first, I have to talk to Blacklight." He turned to face him, his expression hidden by his mask. "Blacklight, my sources are having some difficulty in identifying where exactly Purity has been taken. Am I correct to assume that the PRT are merely trying to save face over this whole affair?"

Blacklight shrugged, his appearance changing into Purity's. Kayden Anders. Basically, Purity without the glowing eyes and hair. "I killed her personally, so there's no way she's in prison. And saying that she's been arrested sounds better than 'we haven't got a clue where she is'."

Coil nodded. "Good. I had hoped to use her disposition to weaken and hamper Hookwolf, but I suppose that I will have to change my plans."

"Should've thought of that before handing their details to the PRT. There was no way they would've let something so juicy slip them by." Wait. The PRT were the ones to out them? But… but that would break the unwritten rules. Surely they're not so short-sighted to do that over a few capes.

Because without those rules, the Endbringers' jobs became a dozen times easier.

"Yes. Director Piggot has always been willing to cheat for her side. A trait I might respect if she weren't my enemy." Coil nodded. "Very well then. Your work is exemplary. I'll send you the pay this afternoon." He turned towards us, Blacklight stepping back now that he was finished. "Now, Am I right to assume that we have to talk about the Empire Eighty-Eight incident?"

"Yeah. Mainly about how you fucked us over because of it." Grue said.

"I understand. Blacklight has voiced similar grievances. I sent him to deal with Kaiser, and so he was unprepared for an attack by the Protectorate while in Max Ander's form. You have to understand though; I have been searching for this information for some time now, at great personal cost. To have the final piece fall into my lap while they were vulnerable… It was an opportunity I simply couldn't ignore."

"And you forgot about us. How it would look like to people like Hookwolf."

"If it makes you feel any better, I was just as surprised when Hookwolf called Kaiser and fingered you lot as the culprit." Blacklight spoke up. "But yeah, that was a major fuck-up on your part, Coil."

"We're just not sure if we can trust you anymore." I said. "You didn't even give us a warning of what you were planning. We could've been ambushed without any idea as to why we were being attacked."

"Of course, Swarm. I apologise. Perhaps it would set your mind at ease if I offered to let you be a part of my plans from now on? That I would not begin any plan on such a scale without first informing you and any other capes in my services."

I shook my head. "Still too risky. You could go forward with something minor, only for it to explode in _our_ faces. And don't say that we can trust Tattletale to tell us if something affects us. She's good, but her power isn't infallible. No offence." I said to her quickly.

"None taken." She replied flippantly.

"Swarm, if you are looking for a singular action I could take to regain your trust, I'm afraid that you'll be clutching at straws. I can't guarantee such a thing; all I can do is ensure that you have no more reason to _distrust_ me any further."

"It's not just trust." Grue was saying. "These situations you send us into… for someone like Blacklight, I'm sure that they're trivial. But for the rest of us, we're barely holding on by the skin of our teeth. All it would take is one unlucky moment, and we would've died multiple times. You can't have Blacklight deal with every problem you have, but you also can't send us on frankly suicidal attacks and expect us to come out on top."

He was right. A chance meeting, a wrong turn, being there at the wrong time. All of those contributed to Cricket nearly killing Grue.

And most people can't walk things off like Blacklight can.

"I understand what you mean." Coil mused. "What if I told you that I had a way to more ascertain your success against a particular problem?"

"I think something doesn't add up.' Tattletale said. "Even _with_ your power…"

"I can't make guarantees like that. I know." He interrupted her. "Follow me, and you'll understand." He led us to the other end of the base, the rest of us quiet as we followed. I wondered what he was showing us. Some way he could tip the scales in his favour? A special weapon, a secret power? What did Coil have that was so useful to him?

The answer became apparent within minutes of meeting the guard stationed there. He was leading out a young girl, about twelve years old. She had dark rings under her eyes, and she kept scratching at the inside of her elbow. I noted how she didn't make eye contact with anyone.

Coil bent down and pushed the hair around her face away in a fatherly manner. She glanced up at him, then away.

"I need some numbers, pet." He said gently.

She sniffled. "Only if you give me some candy." She said in a small voice.

"Of course. Candy after six questions."

Three. I can't handle more than three today. My head hurts."

"Very well then. Give me the numbers if I had the Undersiders attack the PRT headquarters." I stiffened slightly. That was _exactly_ the kind of situation that we were worried about. That Coil would hand us a suicidal mission for some asinine reason.

The girl nodded. "Twenty-seven point five two four nine percent that they succeed. Seventy point five nine oh that only half the team escapes. That counts as one question."

Did she…? Where did she get those numbers from? Were our odds really that bad? How had she figured it out?

Coil turned to us, letting the numbers sink in. "She can calculate possibilities. Our best theory is that she sees all possible realities in a fraction of a second. Of course, such a large amount of data taxes her. But you can understand why she is so valuable to me." He turned back to the girl, one hand resting on her shoulder. "What if I were to send Blacklight in instead?"

"Eighty-nine point three recurring that he would succeed. Forty point seven oh four two that they would cause significant damage to him before falling."

"Good, good." He turned back to us. "It's obvious that Blacklight would have a much higher success rate, given his incredible power and skill. Though I am surprised to hear such high odds of hurting you badly. They must be preparing for you."

The girl was biting her nails. I looked away, feeling ashamed. "One more question. And then I get candy."

"Of course you will. Now, what are the odds if I send Blacklight in a month from now?"

"One hundred percent that he will kill off every member of the PRT. Sixty-nine point two percent chance that he will be heavily damaged during the fighting. Candy now."

Coil stood back up, hand under his chin. "No. that doesn't feel right. Last time, you said that different numbers. What could've changed since then?" I got the feeling he was talking more to himself than you us.

"Those are the numbers." The girl said firmly, tugging on Coil's leg. "They're what's in my head. You just don't want to give me candy." She was getting agitated now. I had seen that enough times before to know what it meant.

I felt sick to my stomach.

"Of course I do, pet." Coil said in a soothing tone. He looked up at the solider who had retrieved her. "Get her to her room. Give her what she wants. Mr. Pitter will make sure she doesn't have too much." The man nodded and grabbed her by the hand, dragging her back to her room. She didn't resist.

Blacklight stepped forward a bit. "Can't help but notice how high those last numbers were. Makes me wonder what will happen in a month that will… motivate me so much."

"Yes. I wonder too." Coil answered, more to himself than to Blacklight. "Perhaps they discover a weakness, or find a powerful ally." He turned towards us. "I _must_ look into this immediately. I trust that you will see yourselves out. I hope that this convinces you to join me." He turned and walked away, leaving us to find our way out. We walked in silence.

Halfway along, Regent gave a low whistle. "Man, I'm so glad my power doesn't fuck me over like _that_. Imagine being so messed up that you couldn't make any real conversation."

I glared daggers at him, even though he couldn't see me behind my mask. I let some venom slip into my voice. "Are you really that dense?"

"What? What did I say?"

"She isn't affected by her powers. Coil's been hooking her up to drugs." Saying it aloud made it seem more real, more overbearing. Like a miasma hanging overhead, choking me.

I took a deep shaky breath. "If you had paid the slightest bit of attention to the news, you'd know who she is. She's the missing girl; the one who vanished on the day of our vandalism. Dinah Alcott. _That's_ why Coil wanted us to attack that day; so we would lure most of the heroes away, and he could kidnap her." I came to a stop. Everyone else came to stop, standing apart from me. "We can't work with him; _I_ can't work with him. Not anymore."

I wouldn't say that I was expecting an uprising on the spot. But the silence that greeted me was deafening.

"… Sorry, Swarm." Grue said in a sad tone. "But I'm afraid that we're going to have to agree to disagree."

He might as well kicked me in the chest. Would've been less painful than this.

"You're still going to work for him? Even after what we've seen?"

"I agree that it's fucked up on multiple levels. But some of us _need_ him to help us. I can't look after Aisha without his help."

"I… I'm not trying to say that Aisha isn't important… but are you _really_ willing to let Dinah suffer, just for Aisha?"

"If I have to? If there's no way I could have both? Yeah." He sounded so calm, so neutral. It was as if he didn't feel anything for her.

"I agree with Swarm. This is fucked up." Blacklight said. We all looked at him in surprise. I saw that his hands were clenched tightly.

Sure, he was willing to jump in and help _me._ But this was still a little surprising.

"And what exactly will you do to get her free?" Tattletale asked warily.

"Convince Coil to let her go." He said as though it was simple. I'd give anything to have his kind of confidence. To know that I could walk into a room and have people do whatever I say.

"She's a powerful precog. There aren't many of them out there, and I don't think anyone could give such an accurate reading for anything that happens tomorrow, much less a month. You _really_ think that Coil's going to let her go because you say so?"

"He hired me because he didn't want me as an _enemy_. I think he's more interested in being alive than dead. And I'm strong enough that I could make up for any… uncertainty."

Well, that was _one_ ally. I turned back to the group for more support. Bitch looked at me angrily. Shouldn't have expected help from her. Regent, however…"

"You told us about your time with Heartbreaker. You told us how you ran away to get away from the drug use and abuse." Heartbreaker was a dangerous villain. What you would get if you gave the power to affect emotions to a selfish man. He would bind young women to his will, force them to commit crimes and die in his name. Regent was one of his kids; I had the feeling that _he_ was the reason Alec was so… broken. I waved a hand at the building. "You can't tell me that you're just going to overlook all of this."

"My problem with Heartbreaker was that he was trying to control _me_. Blacklight's right; you're just going to get yourself killed trying to help everyone. Better to focus on yourself instead."

I turned to Tattletale. My last possible ally. My only friend, beside the violent villain. But she didn't look me in the eye. She just shook her head.

Anger tried blossomed within me. But it was tempered by exhaustion.

"Fine." I said emotionlessly. "Fine. Guess it was stupid of me to expect my teammates to have a conscious. I'll go and… and do something else. Work on my own." Now that I said my piece, I just turned away and stormed off to the exit.

Blacklight held me back by the shoulder, pulled me close.

"Don't do anything stupid." He muttered to me. "I'm just as pissed off as you about Dinah. But I've still got some use for Coil. I'll think of something."

I half-heartedly nodded. But my mind was already coming up with ways to get past Coil's defences.

* * *

Coil looked up as Alex entered his office. From what little he could see of his stance, Coil wasn't happy to be interrupted. It was likely that if it was anyone other than him, he'd likely be forcibly removed from the premises.

The fact that he didn't even _try_ already told Alex more than enough.

"Blacklight." Coil greeted him. "Are you here to contribute any ideas as to why you would kill the PRT so thoroughly? Something they might do that would enrage you to that level of violence?"

Alex paused. "I won't pretend that I'm not interested in the numbers. I'm curious as to what they do to piss me off. But I'm not here about _that_."

"Ah." Coil must've figured it out. "Dinah."

"Yeah. Her. It's fucked up, Coil. And I hate it." He stepped closer, fingers lengthening. "You are going to send her home right now. You aren't going to go anywhere near her again."

Coil clicked his tongue against his teeth. "Blacklight, I appreciate the work you've done for me. I know that you are certainly the most powerful asset I have right now. Having you on my side can tip the scales in my favour. But I have devoted a lot of time, money, and effort to recovering Miss Alcott. Her precog powers mesh well with my own powers; helps me make the correct choices. Without her, I'm afraid that we will have to make more guesswork. I might send in a team, and they might not make it back at all. The Undersiders already complained about how I send them into situations they only survive through luck; your first meeting with them was one such incident. Would it _really_ be fair if I let her go and leave them vulnerable?"

"If they get in over their heads, send me in. I have ways of getting close in moments. You don't need her when you've got me. And frankly, I don't give a damn about your 'chessmaster' routine. Shit happens; deal with it."

And what if I have you busy on a different mission? What if you are too far away to help them until it's too late? There are many variables that even _you_ can't plan around. That's why I need her. Dinah is a safety net."

"Really?" He took a step closer so that he loomed over Coil's desk. "And what do you think are the odds of you getting out of here if you keep saying no to me?"

"Not in my favour." Coil admitted. "But it's not just me who needs her."

Alex stayed his hand. "What are you talking about?"

"The Travellers. You see, you've only seen _most_ of their members so far. Trickster may be their _official_ leader, their face, but he's not their _real_ leader. That accolade goes to Noelle."

"So what does she need Dinah for?"

"I don't tell this to everyone out of respect for her privacy, but her power is changing her. It's already altered most of her body, and it's working further and further on her mind. Trickster can help keep her calm, but only for so long. Eventually, she starts… devouring people whole. Dozens go missing; people start investigating. The Travellers… travel. But each time, it gets worse. It likely won't be much longer before Noelle is gone, and something worse takes her place."

"Again, what does Noelle need Dinah for?" Alex sympathised with Noelle. He understood what it was like to have powers considered monstrous, to feel like your mind is changing, having someone human holding you at bay.

The difference though, is that he was having an easier time holding onto his humanity. In fact, he was _gaining_ humanity all the time.

"My agreement with the Travellers is that they will work for me in exchange for healing Noelle. To that end, we need to try many different procedures. Dinah's power lets us find out the success rate before we devote too much effort to it, in case it becomes a failure. Without her though, we will have to administer and test everything. Most will likely fail. Some will have adverse effects. Others could even kill her or speed up the process. But the string of failures… it will break her will. Make her give up hope. And without hope…"

"You become a monster." He finished. He wanted to curse, to hit something. Great. This was supposed to be easy. He would come in here, threaten Coil, have Dinah back home within the hour. Instead, he was having to choose between helping out a drugged-up girl, or helping out someone on the edge of becoming a monster.

Could he really justify helping out one person, and let another become something worse?

Before he had to make a choice though, Coil's computer started beeping loudly. Coil turned to it, his body stiffening as he saw what was on it. Behind him, he could hear the soldiers moving, strapping things down, locking hatches.

"Trouble?" Alex asked.

"You could say that." Coil responded. "According to this alert, we have an Endbringer on approach. Leviathan." Alex felt himself stiffen too, his body moving into flight-or-fight responses.

Endbringers. The biggest threats this world faced. They were more like natural disasters than people, more so than even Alex could be. A force of nature, guided by an intelligence dedicated to causing as much death and pain as possible.

Behemoth; a moving volcanic eruption. Able to manipulate any kind of energy. Generates a field of heat. Anyone too close burns to death.

Leviathan; A living tsunami. A hydrokinesis on a macro scale. Capable of sinking entire landmasses; has in fact done so in the past.

The Simurgh. The best way to describe her is Murphy's law incarnate. Or the butterfly of doom. She caused far less _immediate_ damage than her brothers, but made up for it later. People go mad, plans fall apart, anything that _could_ go wrong does. And then they kill more people.

You couldn't kill them. You couldn't truly injure them. The best you could do was fend them off enough that they run to lick their wounds. And they _always_ came back.

And one of them was heading this way.

Dana.

He was smashing through the door before the thought fully crystallised.

Dinah had to wait for later.

* * *

He found Dana loading up the truck herself, the back filled with boxes. He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. Good. She had the same idea as him; getting her to safety.

"Hope you've grabbed everything important. I want us out of Brockton Bay before whatever's attacking gets close."

"Just hold on, Alex." She responded, stopping her packing. " _Us_? What makes you think that _we're_ running?"

"Because we have to get you to safety." He replied. "And I'm coming with you."

"No you're not. _I'm_ going. _You're_ staying."

"Why the hell am I staying behind?"

"Because you could help fight back." She replied forcefully.

"Fuck. That."

"Alex, you're the only one I know who can take a hit and keep fighting. And if you used Lung's power, you could probably even go toe to toe with Behemoth and survive."

He growled. "Why are you so set on this? I'm not sticking around to pick a fight with him anyway. What I am _going_ to do is make sure that you're as far away from this as possible." As soon as they had learnt of the Endbringers, he had made a choice. If they ever showed up, he was running. _Especially_ if it were the Simurgh. A living bioweapon like him? He'd be the juiciest target on the field. All she'd have to do is cause Dana's death, and he'd do more damage than even _she_ could do.

Dana turned to glare at him. "Alex, cut the bullcrap. I _know_ you. You may have trouble understanding morality, but there's still good inside of you. After all, you nearly killed yourself saving New York from the thermonuclear bomb."

"I saved _you_. The rest of the city was a happy coincidence." It wasn't _completely_ true. She had a slight point. But this was different. "There's going to be dozens of capes fighting Leviathan. I'm not going to make that big a difference."

"Really? So Alex Mercer, Mr 'Overpowered' himself, thinks he can't make a difference? Let's make a list, shall we? First off, you can get crushed or sliced and heal in seconds. Second, you can adapt to combat whatever you're fighting. Third, you can gain enough biomass to rival Leviathan in size and strength. Fourth, you're pretty goddamn strong and fast, meaning that you can keep up with him. Fifth, Lung's been on record as the only person capable of fighting Leviathan on equal terms." Dana folded her arms, a smug look on her face. "Sounds like you could make a fucking big difference to me."

"…I don't like water." Even he could tell how petty that sounded."

"Jesus fucking Christ, Alex. It's just _fucking_ water. Yeah, you're scared of it for some lame-ass reason, but suck it up and face your fear." She sighed, the frustration on her face fading. "Alex, please. You might just be the difference between a win and a loss here."

"…" He sighed. She was right. He _was_ powerful enough. And he won't lie and say he didn't want a chance to face an Endbringer, to see how it works and if he could work around it.

But the idea that Dana would be out of his sight…

"Ok, fine then. But I am going with you to make sure that you get the fuck out of this city first." He held up a hand to stall any objections. "I mean it, Dana. Unless you're a city away from all this I am not going to do shit about Leviathan. And I'll need to grab some biomass from outside Brockton Bay anyway." Dana surprised him by pulling him into a hug. His biomass hardened against it for a second before returning to normal.

"Thank you, Alex.' She said gratefully. "I'm so glad you're staying to fight."

"Yeah… Well… Have to make sure that Coil lives long enough to keep his end of the deal." He mumbled.

That said, he wasn't as against the city surviving as he would pretend.

* * *

Getting the truck far enough from the city for him to carry it the rest of the way had been difficult. So many other cars had the same idea he had; get the hell away from Brockton Bay, before Leviathan showed up. They were just so _slow_ , weighed down by so much frugal junk. Part of him wanted to suit up, use his reputation to bully a way through. But if someone linked Dana to Blacklight, if someone decided to use her against him…

Well, better not risk it.

Luckily, Dana managed to take a turn off towards a quieter area. From there, it was easy for him to grip the truck with his biomass and run through the countryside towards the next city over. Some city he didn't both remembering the name of. It was meant to be a temporary thing only. A place for Dana to hide out safely while he went to war. He dropped her off in a remote part of the city; from there, she could find a shelter or something.

He handed her the boxes he had. Two of them. "Keep those safe. Until I figure out a way to have more without them crashing on me, I can't keep them all with me."

Dana rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, yeah. I'll keep your stupid heads safe for you. Now get moving. You've still got to get some more biomass before you head back. They're not too sure how long it'll take for Leviathan to show up."

"Will do. You keep safe."

"You too. _Try_ to come back alive." She said. He dashed away from her, towards the nearest large patch of trees. It was too small to be a forest; too big to be anything else. But it'll do for him. He drove his tendrils into the bark on the nearest tree, more tendrils lashing out wildly. He didn't bother with subtlety; he simply overwhelmed their immune systems and fed. The bark turned red and fleshy, more tendrils linking up to other trees. They shrank in size as he devoured every last bit.

He wasn't indiscriminate. He consumed every last piece of biomass he sensed. Animals, plants, the corpse of a hiker… It all became a part of him. When he was done, there was nothing but a barren patch where the trees had been standing. He could already feel the weight now, felt himself sinking into the ground. He took off running, dirt flying up from the force of his legs. Cracks formed wherever he stepped, his movements like an earthquake. His biomass changed shape, smoothed over parts and sharpened others to make him more streamlined. It moved downwards to his legs, giving him more power.

There was a loud boom, as he broke the sound barrier.

When he arrived in Brockton Bay, he nearly skidded for a while before he managed to slow his forward momentum enough to get to a more normal speed. The capes near him, heading towards the meeting, looked at him in surprise. Not that he blamed them. When he looked back, there was a long line of cracks and potholes where he had been running. There were subtle signs of damage from his passing.

Of course, what would you expect when a several ton man came running past?

Still, all this attention would be useful. He found through Lung's memories that attention was what powered his shard. Not how long he fought for, or anger, or anything like that. He _needed_ people to look at him, to acknowledge him.

Already he could feel the shard reacting to the attention.

He pushed it down, ignored the people staring. It wasn't time yet. He didn't know if he could shift while it was active. He needed to wait a bit longer before he got started. He walked past the other capes towards the cliff. Not all the way; just enough to see Leviathan's arrival better.

It was already showering with rain. He was close. Almost too close. Leviathan was fast on land; faster on water.

Well, at least he wouldn't get pummelled to death like the others would.

The last of the capes had arrived, heading in to hear the meeting as much as get out of the rain. He didn't follow; if he did this right, their plan would go out the window. Instead, he started mapping out the mutations and builds he needed. Where his biomass was needed, what shape it would take, what weapons he should build. He ran through the blueprints his DNA gave him, picking out the right form.

The weather grew worse and worse. Now was the time to start changing. He headed down towards the docks, and latched onto the ground as he started changing shape. Biomass and tendrils bunched together in places, forming new limbs. He focused some into his legs, giving them the strength to support his weight. He could ignore the square/cube law only so much after all.

He had just formed a head again when he was hit head on by a powerful wave. He let it wash over him, his biomass recoiling slightly from the contact. Turning away, he saw the wave hit the cliff he had been standing on, where the other capes were having their meeting. Hopefully, most of them would make it out alright. He turned back towards the docks, towards the Boardwalk. They had been torn apart by the power of the wave, _and_ by Leviathan. Thirty feet tall, built much like Alex was right now. A long tail scythed through the air. He looked as though some great god had started hewing things together, regardless of whether they fitted together or not. His face was at best a gash, a finger painting done just to give him something to look with.

Honestly, Alex thought he would've been more impressive.

The capes had teleported around Alex, some of them standing underneath him. They all looked up and pointed at him, getting clear as he still shifted his biomass. He bulked up his arms, making one almost as big as his whole body. They seemed torn with indecision. What do they attack first; Leviathan, or him?

Better get moving before they make the _wrong_ choice.

He pulled himself forward with his massive arms, sending himself flying towards Leviathan. He lashed out with one fist, landing a solid hit on the monster. The weight and the force behind it sent Leviathan falling, Alex landing on him. He grew a mouthful of teeth, and started biting down. As Leviathan lashed out with claws, Alex ignored him. He pushed him down with claws, jabbing them into his flesh. Almost immediately, he felt resistance. His biomass started tasting his flesh, probing for weaknesses. He detected silicon. Leviathan was made entirely from silicon.

Then Leviathan slashed him across the eyes with his tail, and pushed Alex away with a wave of water. The biomass he had probing was left behind. They immediately started digging their way further downwards, still searching for data. Alex healed his eyes just in time for Leviathan to land on him, claws lashing out. Evidently, he didn't like being bested, even for just a moment. Or maybe he identified Alex as the biggest threat, and decided to take him out first.

Well, that was what he was here for.

Alex fired spikes of biomass from his chest, all of them cutting into Leviathan. They weren't going as deep as he would like, so he twisted them downwards. They slashed his chest, cutting open grooves. At the same time, two smaller arms grew to grab him by the head, slammed him to the ground as Alex got back up. He slammed his giant fist down once, twice, three times. Each time, it was like an earthquake happened. He felt waves slam into him, but he simply anchored himself and kept going. Leviathan lashed out wildly and blindly, carving at anything that got close. Below, he saw some capes flying around, firing lasers and powers at Leviathan's prone form.

So in a fit of panic, Leviathan managed to slice through his neck and push a spike of water through his chest. But it took longer to get through than normally. He felt his biomass become tougher. The water dropped down as Leviathan struggled free, lashing out with his tail and slicing through his arm. Alex simply grabbed the missing appendage and reintegrated it, moving more biomass to the injured area. Needed to bulk it up more. Can't have the happen again.

Then there was a fire in his belly, but it didn't hurt at all. Alex opened his maw wide, and hit Leviathan with a powerful roar. He saw the air before him distort from the power behind it, and leviathan was sent stumbling.

But it was the fires that helped a lot.

They washed over Leviathan, burning away at the extremities. They helped disorient him enough that Alex could slam into him again. This time, the claws had a harder time getting through his biomass. He felt himself bulk up, growing in size. Alex held him down and fired a large spike from his chest. It still didn't go all the way through, so he had them come back up when it went as far down as it could. Pieces of his biomass still trapped inside regrouped, fed him information. Leviathan was like… an ogre. He had layers; each more dense than the last. Closer to the core, there simply wasn't space for anything to get through.

Well, if he couldn't go through him, he could still pound him into submission.

Leviathan slammed him aside with another powerful wave, and he twisted his body to catch it. His back biomass softened, so that when he struck capes it was like he was a bouncy castle. As soon as he came to a halt, he felt claws rake at his chest and back. People ran away where they could. He only had to put up with this for a few seconds before he had room to engage.

So he tapped into the _second_ power he had brought with him.

He appeared behind Leviathan as he kept wailing on his copy. Or original. Whichever one it was. He slammed his fists down on Leviathan, pushing him into the ground as the other him turned to ash.

He wasn't sure who was more shocked; Leviathan, or the capes.

Leviathan lashed out, but Alex bit deeply into his arm. Started tearing into it with a third set of arms, with long bladed claws. At the same time, he appeared before Leviathan again, and started pounding his head. When the old him vanished, he pulled his biomass inward and then fired it like a battering ram. Leviathan went flying, and he was running after him. He had to brace against a powerful wave pushing at him, so he teleported behind Leviathan, smashing him again.

There was something he had to check though. Something that would mean the difference between victory and defeat.

He pushed on his biomass, directed it towards the rear and his shoulders. It moved slower than it normally did, but it obeyed. Within a half a minute, he had three spiked tails and two extra heads. It was easy to adapt to seeing things from three heads.

And he was still growing. Before, he had been of equal size to Leviathan. Maybe a bit bigger. Now though, he was easily towering over him; twice his size in all ways. Stronger too; Leviathan's blows and slashes were barely worth caring about. Yes, he was scraping away biomass; but at such a rate that Alex would've died of boredom long before he died from lack of biomass. So he took the time to tear into Leviathan, incorporate his silicon nature into his biomass.

Then he focused on his claws. He wanted to carve him apart as much as he could. Maybe if he took longer to recover, it'll give him more time to come up with a more permanent solution. The biomass that made up his claws spread itself out, until he had only a single layer of cells at the very edges. They worked their way through Leviathan's cells with every slash; breaking off and being replaced with every pass.

But he was working further and further inwards all the time.

Leviathan grew desperate now. He was lashing out more and more with his tail, carving grooves into his flesh with every pass. Each time, he simply healed it over; each time, it dealt less damage. He hit back with his own tail. He stabbed them in, over and over in succession. Then he twirled them together and twisted the muscles at the base. Turning them into a drill. Dana was right; he was doing the most damage out of everyone here.

But then the power stopped growing. Confused, he saw them all running away. He turned back to see a massive wave, even bigger than himself, heading straight for them. He tried to latch onto the ground, but Leviathan severed his claws.

Collision. And then he was being thrown into the city.

He carved grooves into the road as he tried to halt his progress. He felt a building give way as he slammed into it, felt it fall down. He blinked the waters from his eye and growled. Stupid. He forgot the most basic rule of fighting Endbringers; always assume they're smarter than they appear. It made perfect tactical sense to hit him with something he couldn't ignore, something that would wash him away. Gave Leviathan time to move, time to get his bearings.

 _Or time to do some damage to the city without being overwhelmed,_ he mused as he spotted Leviathan climbing up a building. This would have to be pretty embarrassing for an Endbringer. You do some damage to the front gate, as a way to announce yourself, and you spend most of your time trapped there with another monster sitting on top of you. He'll have to do _some_ damage, or else he'll look weak.

Alex teleported to Leviathan's last location, looking around for him. Nothing. Bastard was fast. Luckily for Alex though, his senses have spent his whole life evolving. It used to be that he would have to rely on the same senses as everyone else. A boost here and there whenever someone on his hit list showed up.

Now though, his senses worked more like an echo. He _felt_ more than saw a wave reaching outwards from him, spreading across the city. It faded for a split-second, before returning to him from his right.

 _Found_ _you_.

He teleported towards the echo, sent out another echo as soon as he landed. It came again, further to his left. He moved again, another echo. He was waiting near the center of the city. Close enough that he could reach it by land.

Alex jumped into the air, heading towards Leviathan.

 _Look out, look out, little Endbringer. I'm coming for you._

* * *

I wasn't sure who was more surprised when a giant monster appeared from nowhere and slammed into Leviathan. The Endbringer, or us.

It was slightly easier to make out in the rain, thanks to its reddish skin. Parts of it looked like it had been flayed alive; others were growing and healing over as it pounded Leviathan to the ground. One arm was much larger and heavier, looking like it had mutated or something. I saw it lean down and open a gash on its face, lots of teeth sticking out. It bit into Leviathan, tearing into him. Leviathan lashed out, claws shredding its chest, but the monster ignored its wounds. It responded by jabbing large claws into Leviathan's chest; but they only made it half-way before stopping.

As it came to a halt, Leviathan slashed it across the eyes with his tail and pushed him away with a large wave of water. He charged the monster again, the afterimage washing over them both as they clashed. Several large spikes erupted from the creature's chest, stabbing into Leviathan before slicing downwards. Two extra arms actually grew from its shoulders, grabbing Leviathan by the head and slamming him down. From there, they rolled over and started laying into each other.

From the ways things were going, I think the other monster was winning.

"What _is_ that thing?" Someone shouted, as we stood there in shock. None of us answered; we didn't know.

"Nevermind that!" Legend shouted back. "It's an ally for the moment, and it's giving us a chance. All capes on offence, move in and open fire. We need to use this chance." He fired lasers at Leviathan, the beams twisting to avoid the other beast. With this show of action, others joined in. The rest of us moved to set up defences in case Leviathan broke free.

Me? I went looking for Tattletale.

Not that easy, since the allied beast created tremors with every punch.

I found her on a rooftop, watching the fight with others as though this was a pay-per-view match. I quickly ran inside, found the stairs up to the top. Came crashing through the rooftop access, somewhat out of breath.

"Tattletale!" I called out as I raced towards her. I ducked as Leviathan roared, moving jerkily as he fought his way free. His tail lashed out wildly, slicing through an unfortunate cape before slicing into the beast's neck. He pushed away at the beast with a spike of water, before severing its arm and backing away. "What is that thing?" I repeated. Tattletale turned to me, eyes wide, before turning back to watch the beast. I saw it grab its severed arm, place it back on the stump. A ring of black-and-red washed over it, and the arm was a part of it again. It noticed how it was slowly being covered with scales; how its head was more draconic, had a longer neck.

Then it opened its mouth, and my world was replaced by noise.

It was so _loud_ and painful, the water being displaced before it. I couldn't hear anything apart from a great amount of ringing, and we were all stumbling about.

But I looked up in time to see the beast breathing fire. It washed over Leviathan, sending him stumbling. The beast slammed into him again, attacking again and again. I could see that Leviathan was having a harder time fighting back, his attacks doing less damage. The beast held him down by the arms and another spike stabbed from his chest. More spikes erupted from Leviathan, around where the first spike entered. I thought back to the Fundraiser, when Blacklight attacked Armsmaster. Tattletale shook me, her mouth moving slowly as she said something to me.

I didn't need my ears to know what she was saying.

 _Blacklight._

Fucking son of a bitch, is there _anything_ he can't do?

Then Leviathan smacked him aside with a large wave, sent him skidding towards people. I saw him crash into them, sweep them aside like they were nothing but crumbs. My armband started listing everyone who had been injured from the collision. Leviathan surged forward, started pounding Blacklight for his troubles.

I noticed that there were very few deaths from such a powerful blow.

But then came the _real_ surprise.

A _second_ Blacklight appeared behind Leviathan, slamming him down against the first. Within a second, the first one vanished into a cloud of ash.

My hearing returned with a loud painful pop.

"…Lee." Tattletale was shouting at me. "He's using Oni Lee's power. _That's_ why no one's seen him recently. _That's_ how Lung escaped. Blacklight killed them and took their powers." I gave her a shocked look, before glancing back at Blacklight again. He was overwhelming Leviathan now. He was tearing into him while a second Blacklight stabbed Leviathan in the back. He was now twice Leviathan's size, with spikes and scales everywhere. He launched Leviathan again with a part of his unarmoured body, dashing towards him. Leviathan responded by slowing him with a wave, but Blacklight teleported around it. There were bulbous growths on his shoulders and at the base of his spine. They grew larger and larger, gaining features on them.

Now he was a giant three-headed dragon, bigger than anything I had seen before. He held leviathan down with his mouths, started tearing into him with his claws. I was surprised that there was anything left of Leviathan to survive. The only downside to this was that they were fighting so much that no one else could get in without getting in the way.

Leviathan was getting desperate now.

"We gotta move." Tattletale said in a small voice. I could understand why. A massive wave was building up, growing higher and higher. Everyone was running now, getting as far away as they possibly could. Fliers were picking up passengers and flying away; teleporters were getting groups around them and moving elsewhere.

And we were still stuck on top of the building.

"Hurry up you two!" One cape yelled at us, waving his hand wildly. He was floating off the ground; a flier. Good enough for me. We grabbed hold tightly as he carried us off.

We barely made it.

The wave crashed down, and every building in the way toppled over like a house of cards. One cape, flying lower than the rest of us, was caught in the wave. He and his passengers were washed away, likely dead.

Owlman, deceased. CD-6. Doctor Kickass, deceased. CD-6. Little Timmy, deceased. CD-6.

Down below, I could see Blacklight's giant shape being washed into the city.

Leviathan was gone now.

"All capes!" Armsmaster's voice sounded. "Keep an eye out for Leviathan! We _cannot_ let him escape to recover!"

Recover? Surely Blacklight had done enough damage to him. He's got to be running now, right?

Or was that just wishful thinking? Was the damage merely superficial?

There was a crash somewhere, and my armband pointed to our left.

The cape put us down on the ground, and we ran the rest of the way. In the distance, I saw a building falling.

We followed the armband's directions to another scene of chaos.

Leviathan had been badly injured; his movements were slower and less powerful. He had to rely more on throwing walls of water at us. I think that was what saved most of us from being killed so quickly; we could adapt to them, avoid them.

We just had to hold out long enough for Blacklight to get back into the fight.

I had any flying bugs I could find circling around, trying to find him through their sense of touch. But there was nothing. Surely that wave hadn't been too much for him. I mean, after everything he's gone through, could a huge amount of water really have been enough to kill him?

Dragon landed on top of Leviathan, firing her rockets and plasma breath at close range. Leviathan tried to throw her off, settled for tearing her apart. She exploded with violent force, throwing him back. Parts of him were burned now, glowing slightly red.

A loud roar filled the air as Blacklight appeared above, driving Leviathan to the ground. I got it; Dragon used her suit's destruction like a flare, pointing out Leviathan's position. Blacklight drove his three tails into Leviathan's back, drilling into him and sending blood flying.

But then Leviathan slammed his hand against the ground, and everything started shaking.

The aquifer.

Everyone started backing away again, but the ground dropped out too quickly. Streets, buildings and people all fell into the water, Leviathan and Blacklight included. Those who had been too close to them were pulled under by the displacement of the water as they both sank.

Wildtiger, deceased. CD-6. Meister, deceased. CD-6. Iron Dude, deceased. CD-6. Bookworm, deceased. CD-6. Conductor, down. CD-6.

The water was frothing, likely from both of them fighting.

Thing is, water is _Leviathan's_ territory. It's where he's fastest, where he's strongest, where he's most _dangerous_. On land, things were a bit more fair, if not in Blacklight's favour.

Down there? Leviathan was king and god.

The water suddenly exploded upwards and outwards, raining down upon us. A loud roar forced more of it up and out. The ground around the hole started crumbling, falling in and on top of them. Then the ground started shaking violently. Blacklight came crashing through the edge, Leviathan held in one large hand. He crashed down on top of him, his full weight on top of him. I felt the ground shake even more, before the bit they were on fell into the hole. Cracks started forming outwards, trying to swallow up more of the city.

Further away, I saw Blacklight and Leviathan appear high in the air. They both fell to earth, clashing and swinging away at each other. They both crashed to the ground, dust billowing everywhere.

And then Blacklight appeared above and fell again. And again. And _again_.

After the third time, a large spray of water headed back towards the sea. Everyone around me started laughing, started cheering.

He had done it. Blacklight scared off Leviathan. All by himself.

* * *

Armsmaster seethed as he watched Blacklight get all _his_ glory.

He had spent months watching all the footage of Leviathan in action. He had studied every last attack, every move, every plan he had. He had created programs to help him train, come up with a dozen plans for killing the monster himself. He had made a halberd capable of disintegrating matter on contact to do the deed.

And then Blacklight showed up and ruined _all_ of his plans.

Instead of Leviathan being killed, they merely managed to pound him hard enough to make him run. Instead of him getting the glory and removing the last remnants of Empire Eighty-Eight, Blacklight was the guest of the hour. And he had slinked off, like none of it even _mattered_. 'Just doing my job, folks'.

The only thing he could get out of this was more data about him. More ideas of what he was capable of. Right now, he wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not.

His armband beeped, signalling a private call. He moved away from the others to an abandoned building. Only there did he answer it.

"Armsmaster." Piggot said on the line. "Have you and Dragon come up with ideas as to how this was possible?"

"We have." Dragon replied. "Our current theory is that his physical abilities are somewhat strengthened by his size. The fact that he _started_ off as big as Leviathan meant that he could hit as hard as he normally did without being immediately thrown aside by his waves."

"How is that possible?"

"His body is made up of that sample Armsmaster recovered. According to Dr Ragland's notes so far, the sample doesn't require bones or organs to survive and sustain, and it can bind together with more samples to strengthen and grow larger. He also theorised that they are more capable of occupying the same space in greater numbers. In short, he was able to feed enough to have several dozen tons of his mass in a smaller body than expected."

"He was… denser than he should be?"

"A characteristic noted about the Endbringers." Armsmaster noted. There was a moment of still silence between them.

"And what does that mean for _us_?" Piggot asked.

"It explains how he's able to regenerate from his wounds. He's simply moving his mass out, letting it occupy the empty space. Luckily, that just means that I - that is, _we_ – will simply have to wear him down. He can't conjure more biomass from nowhere."

"But he _can_ make more if he feeds."

"Yes. That is why Dragon is going to supply me with suits to help combat him. As they are not organic-based, he cannot absorb them and use them to regenerate."

"And his power? I _know_ that he used Lung's power combined with Oni Lee's to take down Leviathan."

"We… We already had a theory he could take powers. I was almost completely certain that he used Kaiser's powers. Now, I'm certain of it."

"You realise what this means, correct? We _cannot_ send capes in to help you fight him. Not unless we want to run the risk of losing their powers to him."

"We already figured that." Armsmaster said. "Don't worry. I have a tool that will carve him apart." If he couldn't get the fame of taking Leviathan down himself, then he could at least get it by taking Blacklight's head.

"I _might_ not have worried before. But that was before he scared off Leviathan almost by himself. Now, we need more firepower on our side."

"We'll try. But there's only so much we can devote, so many options we have." Dragon paused. "The only other option we haven't tried yet is the samples, and I think it would be unwise to use them without months or years of study."

"We don't have months or years. I want Blacklight dealt with within two months from now. Fortunately for us, Director Costa-Brown agrees with me. She has given authorisation for borrowing Tinkers from other teams. If we cannot tame the samples within that amount of time, then we can at least control it."

There was a pause.

"Director… Ma'am." Dragon said haltingly. "He's done more against Leviathan than anyone other than Scion. People are going to want him left alive. So he can fight them again, save lives that would've been lost otherwise."

"Blacklight does not follow the same rules as the rest of us. The risk that he might go too far, that he might become an even _greater_ threat than the Endbringers, are too costly. We will find a way around the Endbringers. Perhaps the samples might be enough to replace him. But we cannot let him see the end of the year." Piggot said firmly.

"To that end, you're including Tinkers." Armsmaster noted.

"I am. It is our hope that their blatant disregard for the laws of physics might allow them to work around the homicidal behaviour."

"And the mental side of things? What's to stop our subjects from gaining a god complex from becoming as powerful as the 'Endbringer Weapon'?"

"I am picking out candidates from the PRT ranks. They have gone through rigorous testing before now."

"Trust me, they're perfect for the job."

* * *

 **There we go. I wasn't originally planning on the fight being** _ **as**_ **one-sided as it was, but it ended up becoming the natural conclusion of Alex going up against Leviathan. Yes, he can throw around lots of water. But water is dangerous because of the sheer force behind it. Like hitting concrete they said. For Alex (a guy who drops from the top of the Empire State Building without a single injury) this wouldn't be classified as lethal. At best, it would throw him around and give Leviathan himself time to attack with his claws. And that wouldn't be lethal either. It might be if he had enough time and could tear away enough biomass. But not the amount Alex would've had. Bring in Lung's power and Oni Lee's, and Alex could keep beating down Leviathan until he decided he had enough.**

 **Now, I already thanked gomt8 already for letting me know about the thread, but I want to thank him again. See, I had originally written this chapter with Alex needing to also create vents to blast air like a jetpack to help him break the sound barrier, and even then he would be surprised he could do that. The thread informs me that Alex could run at Mach 1, enough to break the sound barrier, at his** _ **base**_ **level. (well, his max speed upgrade really, but you know what I mean). It also informed me of a material out there called Graphene. It's made by creating a thin layer of tightly packed carbon atoms bonded by a lattice. By stacking layers of Graphene on top of each other, the resulting layer can have between eight to ten times the stopping power of steel. According to a test done on Graphene (they worked from ten layers to a hundred layers – ten and one hundred nanometres thick), it was enough to distribute the power behind an appropriately sized gold bullet fired at three thousand metres per second. So yeah, he's actually tougher than I thought he was. Saying he's OP is sounding more and more accurate.**

 **As for the samples (planning on calling them something else later) I figured that a tinker suit would make things slightly different at least. It also meant that they don't have to have a complete picture of what the Virus can do to use it. Of course, there will be downsides I will reveal in the story itself at a later date. But at least it's not** _ **totally**_ **'give people Alex's full powers'. More like a single part of it.**

 **Anyway, happy new year. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

 **Edit: Ok then. Had some feedback from some people. Had a second look at the scene with Coil and Dinah. Once I stopped focusing on making an awesome fight with Leviathan, I realised that I didn't like the scene that much either. Had people at points complaining about Alex being OOC for helping Taylor; had others complain because he's actually more heroic than I'm making him seem. I suppose if I'm going for a characterisation I should be consistent about it. Not jumping around the place.**

 **Originally, I thought I had only two choices. Have Alex kill Coil (and everyone who works for him) or just not include Alex in the scene at all.**

 **I was originally going to remove all mention of him apart from in the predictions, when I came up with a third option.**

 **Have Alex threaten Coil into releasing her.**

 **I don't know if Coil actually had Dinah's powers helping Noelle. Maybe he didn't even mean it when he said that he was helping her at all. But I thought that Noelle would serve as a good excuse for him keeping Dinah. After all, she and Alex are a lot alike. They've both got powers considered 'Lovecraftian'. They both are fighting against their monstrous sides. They both rack up a kill count and have to travel (well, Alex used to). And it would be a good compromise, a good chance to force him to choose. Who would he help out, and who would he let suffer?**

 **And to those turned off by how high the numbers are for Alex killing off the PRT, just remember that Dinah's numbers are constantly changing as variables change. So one scenario could have a fifty-fifty chance one week, then as someone dies it goes to sixty-forty. And if Alex found out that the PRT are working with a stolen sample of him… Well, he's not going to let them live. Just saying. And things could change later down the line. Their odds might get better than one hundred percent death toll.**

 **Oh, and I changed a bit at the end to have Alex leave. That way, most people aren't aware that Blacklight is the giant monster that pounded an Endbringer. Because I realised that if I left that in... well, I would've put myself in a corner. There would be no way that anyone would want to fight him without a lot of fanwank. I know that Lung fought Leviathan to a near standstill and people still fought him, but he didn't beat Leviathan on his own like Alex did.**

 **Mind you, the only people I have decided I want to fight Alex now are the PRT, Slaughterhouse Nine, and the Merchants. One already knows they are one and the same, the second would still go for it for the challenge, and the Merchants are stupid enough to still try. Still, don't want to write myself into a corner.**

 **Hope this fixes up any things people have issues with.**


	8. Female Officers Shall Wear Sexy Armour

**Hey there everyone. Glad to see that so many people like my story. I wasn't expecting so much praise when I started.**

 **Well, I probably expected praise like this after seeing how many people reviewed the first chapter.**

 **Anyway, now we're getting into the Post-Leviathan stage of the story. I'm still hopeful that I can make some bigger changes, but at the same time, I want enough damage to the city to bring in Slaughterhouse Nine and let the Merchants gain more power. Sorry for those wanting big** _ **big**_ **changes.**

 **For toolazytologin (please log in and PM me your real ID so I can message you) Lung's power doesn't supply him with more biomass. It supplies Alex with armour and scales. I know that in story it would, but I think Alex is broken enough without the reasons you pointed out. And I never said that Armsmaster was going to** _ **beat**_ **Alex. Just that he wasn't going to be an easy victory for Alex. He'll take a lot of damage, but he will triumph over him and his plans. Don't worry about that.**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: All Female Officers Are Required to Wear Sexy Armour**

The airport was busy and loud that day. Everyone who hadn't been willing to brave the traffic jams of people returning to Brockton Bay was coming in by air, along with people who wanted to visit the 'miracle city'.

Yes, miracle city.

It had been over a week since Leviathan had arrived, and people were _still_ calling it that. Not just because it survived a visit from an Endbringer; not just because only half a dozen capes lost their lives instead of the dozens he usually killed; not just because there wasn't _as much_ property damage as there could've been.

But because he barely managed to fight before he was sent _running_.

 _Yeah._ PRT Officer Petra Sanderson thought as she waited in the arrivals lounge. _Everyone's so goddamned interested in this place because they had a pet monster. Not because it_ wasn't _turned into a waterlogged hole in the ground._ She had heard of others places that had been hit by the Endbringers; spent some time helping out in Japan, saw the damage Leviathan had caused, the people _still_ affected even though it had happened years ago. It gave her a stark reminder of just how powerful and monstrous those things were.

She was just happy to come to a _mostly_ intact city.

A heavy-built man sat down next to her. "Hey, cheer up Sanders." He said to her. "You look like we're here for a funeral. Look at this place. This has got to be the liveliest the entire city's been since… ever. Honestly…"

"Fredrick, don't you even _think_ of saying that this attack was a good thing." She replied half-heartedly. Damian Fredrick liked to make a lot of jokes. Most were bad, a few were good. She'd reprimand him whenever he crossed a line, and he joked about her in return.

They had dated for a bit before she realised that he was someone you enjoyed in _small doses_.

"Ooh, last name basis. So scary." But he kept quiet.

For about a millisecond.

"Seriously though, why are we waiting? Wasn't this supposed to be a speedy transfer or something? Why the hell are we stuck in arrivals like some damn tourists?"

"Really? _That's_ what you're wondering about? Not why we were transferred in the first place? Or why out here? None of this is more important than why we're waiting?" She asked him in exasperation.

He shrugged. "I'm just saying. We got pulled away from our homes, our loved ones, our wives to get moved out here for a 'reassignment'. The least they could do is be quick about it."

"You don't even _have_ a wife." The third member of their group said. Built like a football player and twice as tough, Grey was the complete opposite of Damian. He had done some time in New York, fought against a surviving remnant of the Teeth, a former Brockton Bay gang. It was clear that he was a badass.

"Yes I do."

"No, he doesn't." She interrupted. "He's got a blow up doll named Candi." She was sure she was the most embarrassed person in the room when she opened a closet and saw that there. Damian didn't seem to _get_ embarrassed.

Another member of their 'team', Francis Fort, gave Damian a shake of his head. "Man, you are just sad. You know that, right?"

"Well at least only the girlfriend walked out on me. Oh, burn." Damian replied.

"Hey, fuck you. At least _I_ had a wife." She had heard all about Francis' wife. It started off a storybook tale. He was a dashing officer in the police; she was a quiet bookworm from the library. They had hit it off over their love of classic literature, and had gotten married.

But then one day, it all came crashing down when he found his wife after work. In a room full of blood and corpses under the library.

Turned out that she was a serial killer Cape by the name of Ripper Jackie. A homage to the old serial killer of London. She tried to add his corpse to her collection.

He brought back her corpse, and transferred to the PRT afterwards.

And rounding out their group, bringing them to five members in total, was Kim Sharpe. She was a small woman – about five feet – and most people would've described her as petite, adorable, and perky. In a world like the PRT, a place meant for only the baddest of the badasses, she made up for her stature by being one of the toughest girls around. She drank hard, partied hard, and fought hard. She was willing to use every dirty trick in the book if it meant that she was the one standing in the end. She was more like a feral ferret or something than adorable.

 _Why am I the most normal person in the whole group?_ She wondered. Her past wasn't anywhere _near_ as colourful as some of the others. She was raised by good parents in a good home. She had watched the news when they mentioned cape sightings. She had done well in school, hadn't been bullied, passed with high grades. Went to college, did well there.

Then she saw the aftermath of an Endbringer attack, and she suddenly knew what she wanted to be.

Her parents argued with her about it, but only because they feared for her safety. She would be going up against Capes; people who could kill you with a glance. But the longer she worked in the PRT, the more she realised that they weren't as tough as they pretended to be. You didn't always need another cape to bring one down; you just had to be smart about fighting them.

Except when fighting Endbringers. There, even the capes could die if they were just unlucky.

That made her thoughts turn back to the Brockton Bay Monster.

No one knew where it came from, or where it went. There were plenty of ideas and speculation about it though. It was a cape; it was another Endbringer, turning against its brothers. It was an avenging angel, here to save us from extinction. It was a weapon, made by a Tinker to fight back against them. One lot said that it was a heavily mutated Lung, a former gang leader from Brockton Bay. He had proven his strength, and would return to take control of Brockton Bay for good. Some though, said that it was something like Scion. The first of a new line of capes. People or beings capable of fighting monsters like Leviathan… and winning.

She had been on Parahuman Online a few times. Liked to see what people were saying. The thread just about his origins was unbelievably long; filled with speculation, arguments, areas where entire snippets were removed. The thread about his powers was even longer.

No matter where you looked, _everyone_ was talking about the Endbringer Killer.

Grey turned his head quickly. "We've got company. On approach." He said stiffly. She turned in the direction he was looking at, saw someone running towards him. He wore a suit, a tie, and was red in the face. He came to a stumbling stop before them, and had to catch his breath.

"…Thank… God… I found… you." He panted. "Was at… the wrong… entrance… waiting. Director Piggot… wants you… ASAP."

Petra stood up and gave him a calm smile. "Of course. We've all been ready for a while. You can lead us to our transport."

"Thank… you." He replied. He managed to stand upright and walk away, the five of them following. "We'll have… someone take your… luggage for you." He didn't sound as out of breath as he did before. "The Director wants us on a different vehicle. So you can get a better sense of things here."

"Better sense of things? What's there to learn? People are flocking here like vultures to a carcass." Damian said, waving a free hand at the crowds. She saw the suit wince at the choice of words.

Some time, Damian could be such an _ass_.

"I… I think… I think she was meaning more like access the _damage_ done." He said nervously. He was hurrying again, this time towards the air field. Were they taking a helicopter over the city?

Well, you'd be able to see a hell of a lot from the air.

A black helicopter bearing PRT markings was waiting for them out on the helipad. Inside of it was Piggot herself. The suit gulped as he saw the look on her face. Not that she blamed him. Any woman capable of rising to the top of the PRT would have to be a hardass to get where she is. Not the kind of person you want to upset by, say, taking too long to arrive because you were waiting at the wrong lounge.

"Mr. West." She said calmly. "Care to explain why you took at least ten minutes longer to return with our new team?" West started shaking a bit, sweating nervously. Petra decided to help save his skin.

"Our fault, Director." She said. The others glanced at her. "Our flight must've landed at the wrong entrance. A bit of miscommunication. It won't happen again." Piggot narrowed her eyes at Petra, but she didn't react.

Piggot looked away. "We're running late as it is. All of you, hop in." They moved to do so, West taking up the rear. When they were all seated and wearing headphones, the helicopter took off quickly.

"I assume that you are all curious as to why you were reassigned to Brockton Bay." Piggot started saying to them.

"You could say that, Director." Fort replied. "I probably don't speak for the others, but I feel like this is the moment where you're going to tell us _exactly_ why we were moved."

"It is. But before we begin, I want to make it _absolutely_ _clear_ that everything about your mission is to be kept _classified_. Some of it will be made public to explain why you're here, but the rest is to be spoken of only in secure areas and lines. Any attempt to disclose classified information can result in incarceration or _worse_.' She gave them all a hard look. "And trust me when I say that you don't want to see worse."

"Don't you worry, Director." Fredrick said. "We'll treat it as seriously as my ma's secret sauce."

"What he _means_ is that we understand." Petra said quickly, before Piggot reprimanded him for his joke. "No word to anyone outside this group without your authorisation."

She nodded, and handed out files. "Good. First off though, I think I should get you all up to speed on the current situation of Brockton Bay. I'll admit, it's better than what it _could_ be. But all the same, things have been messed up thanks to Leviathan's fight." Petra nodded. She could understand. Even though he was sent running, two monsters _did_ have a grudge match in the middle of town. At least two blocks were smashed when Leviathan threw him away alone. More had been damaged during their second clash.

"Right now, there are three major parties vying for control over Brockton Bay." Piggot continued. They looked down at the files before them. The first set of pictures showed a bunch of people rioting. At the head was obviously a trio of capes. Below, there was a list. Skidmark, shaker 2. Squealer, tinker 2 and mover 3. And Mush, shifter 4. She looked at the numbers, confused. Normally the PRT listed capes in order of threat.

Surely these guys weren't _that_ dangerous.

"Ma'am, permission to speak freely?" Fort asked. "With all due respect, these 'Merchants' don't seem all the dangerous. Not really worth worrying about."

"Normally, they aren't. They've actually been active since before Leviathan showed up. They were originally considered a joke; no one respected them or feared them. The only reason they would even be noticed is that they hold territory. But the fight with Leviathan caused a lot of property damage. Some people lost everything. Others became worse off. And the Merchants took advantage of the chaos."

"Skidmark is now a rallying point for everyone on the lowest levels of the city. Everyone who was considered homeless, everyone who didn't have much, they've all started flocking to his side. They're angry, scared, and upset. And the Merchants are taking advantage of that."

"What are they offering people?" she asked. She preferred to understand why people would join gangs. Helped her understand what could motivate them to leave.

"For starters, he offering them shelter. Thanks to their numbers, the Merchants managed to take a lot of territory that was still standing. From there, they offer drugs, sex, supplies… anything people want to ease the pain and suffering."

"And where does he _get_ these supplies?"

"From the city. We've had dozens of reports of Merchants looting supermarkets, hospital runs, malls and other places. They're almost an ongoing riot. They've also been attacking attempts to fix up the city. After all, if we manage to stabilise again, we could run them out. Right now, we've got the Wards helping to defend relief shelters, scare them off and away from the injured."

Petra nodded, and turned to the next picture. It showed a man in a wolf mask. His body was covered in tattoos, and he wore a swastika belt buckle. It was like he was trying his hardest to advertise his loyalty to being an ass. "The next problem we have is a gang known as Fenrir's Chosen. A white supremacist gang, and the remnants of Empire Eighty-Eight when Kaiser vanished. They've been spending their time reclaiming lost territory, stealing supplies, attacking PRT patrols and generally being a pain in my ass."

Petra frowned as she read about them. Her skin was tanned and dark enough that people couldn't quite agree on her nationality. Racist assholes like the Chosen would just _love_ to get rid of people like her. Her folks weren't going to be happy to hear she was going up against them.

They're led by a former lieutenant of Kaiser's by the name of Hookwolf, real name Brad Meadows."

"Big bad wolf is called Meadows? Should I go find him a straw house?" Petra elbowed Fredrick, and Piggot continued.

"He revels in the chaos we've faced so far, and so far we think his mission is to just cause as much as possible. Luckily for us, he's also been busy fighting a turf war against another group." They turned to the third file.

The picture on it was of a man wearing black, a white serpent coiling around his body. "This is Coil. He stylises himself as some kind of chessmaster, making plans upon plans that his enemies just keep stumbling into. We're not certain if he has a power or not, but we doubt its combat related. He hires private military contractors as his muscle. But around the time he started making bigger moves against Empire Eighty-Eight, we found evidence that he branched out to hiring capes."

"Makes sense." Grey said. "Fenrir's Chosen has the biggest collection of Capes in the city. He'll need some muscle to counter them."

Piggot nodded. "There are three main groups under his employ. First off are the Travellers. They're powerful, but apart from people always going missing in their area before they leave, they've only committed minor crimes. Same with the next group, the Undersiders. Three master capes, minor crimes, considered low threat."

Petra nodded, but her eyebrows rose up as she saw the final name of the list.

Blacklight.

"What the hell?" Fredrick muttered, reading over the ratings. "Mover 7, shaker 5, striker 9, blaster 7, breaker 4, shifter 9… _Brute 12?!_ Am I missing some context here or something?"

"You want context? Look out the window." They did so, Petra nearly gasping at the sight below them.

In what had once been the city centre, was nothing but a giant watery hole in the ground. Cracks spread outwards from it, creating rivers elsewhere. Buildings laid on their sides, some splintered in half.

It was a massive scene of devastation.

"Most people aren't aware of this, but the PRT already know the identity of the 'Endbringer Killer'." Piggot continued saying. "It was Blacklight, in a different form. Something we've never seen before. That crater is why we're rating him a 12."

" _That_ is what you've been reassigned to take down."

The five of them stared at her in shock and horror. Petra heard Fredrick give off a strangled laugh.

"You're sending us on a goddamn suicide mission." Kim said angrily. "Capes have fought and died fighting Leviathan without even slowing him down. And you expect us to take down the freak that scared off _Leviathan_?"

By now, they had reached the PRT headquarters. Piggot didn't say anything before Kim's tirade. She just kept staring at them.

"Perhaps it might be best to explain everything before you make your final choice." She simply said, as the door was opened for them.

* * *

She continued speaking when they had reached a private room. A mixture of a classroom and a lab. Petra noted that Armsmaster was waiting there as well.

"Blacklight is tougher than we originally suspected. But he isn't invincible or all powerful. And we've got a way to even out the odds."

"Well that's great." Fort said. "I'd feel better if you would share those weaknesses with us anytime now."

"His powers aren't like everyone else's." Armsmaster took over. "They're actually just the natural conclusion of organic capabilities. His entire body is constructed from an unknown organic cell that we've taken to calling 'the Blacklight Gene'. A living organism that binds to other organic-based constructs. His body is comprised of several tons of this gene, bound together in a human shape. It is what gives him his healing and shapeshifting capabilities." A slide appeared on screen. It showed a red moving blob in the centre of a petri dish. It jerked towards the camera, as though aware that it was being watched.

Petra felt creeped out by it.

"Because he is constructed _entirely_ of this gene, Blacklight does not have any internal organs, bones, central nervous system, or a brain. You cut off his head, he's just going to keep fighting while growing a new one in under three seconds. Any cutting injuries will just heal over, and the removal of a limb is considered minor at best. Blunt force trauma is even less effective; his body simply bounces back into shape. Add in that their combined strength allows him to perform superhuman feats, and they can change into sharpened weapons, and getting into a close range fight with him is considered suicidal. Attacking from range is also useless; his body simply ignores any bullets that pass through him."

"And I'm guessing it allows him to turn into a big-ass fucking monster too." Fredrick said. She resisted the urge to kick him.

"It does. Our chief scientist discovered that the Blacklight Gene is based on a virus of some manner. It reproduces by infecting organic-based cells and eating their way inside. From there, it eats all the matter of the cell, divides, and then continues until the cell is completely devoured. However, the Gene does this in a matter of seconds, overwhelming the natural immune system in the process. Then, it adds the newly created mass to itself, increasing its own mass." He turned back to them. "The Endbringer Killer form is simply his own form with far more mass."

"However, he can only contain so much mass in a compressed state." Piggot explained. "His last sighting showed no sign of him cracking the ground with every step, so we can safely assume that he had 'deposited' the extra biomass elsewhere. You'll simply have to attack him away from his extra mass."

Why was she assuming that they were agreeing to this?

"It also means that he _can_ be killed. You just have to destroy his mass in sufficient quantities that he cannot sustain a proper form." Armsmaster said. "And because all his power comes from an organic gene, it means that _others_ can also tap into his strength."

"Tap into his strength? You mean…?" Fort blanched. "You want to make us into capes? Make us like him?"

"The final decision lies with me." A deeper voice said. They turned to see a black doctor standing by another entrance. "And I will only clear it once I am _certain_ that you are up for the task." He nodded to them. "Hello. I am Doctor Ragland. I am the scientist in charge of the Blacklight Project, and your personal doctor."

"Personal doctor?" Petra echoed.

"Of course. You don't think we're going to send you out there without someone making sure everything stays fine. Of course, first, I need to ensure that your physical capabilities are what your reports _say_ they are."

"We need to go through these tests _again_?" Fredrick asked. "Well shit, so much for being on holiday. I was hoping to see some babes in bikinis. Or running around in costume."

"Do you ever stop making jokes?" Fort asked him.

"Bub, my head will need to be chopped into a dozen pieces before I stop cracking jokes."

" _If_ we're done fooling around, front and center." Armsmaster ordered. The five of them immediately got to their feet and marched through the door Ragland had been standing. There, they stripped to their undergarments and were put through physical hell. Running, climbing, relay, crawling, weight lifting, shooting. Each of them excelled in at least one area, each of them would've picked up the slack in a team.

"This… is torture." Fredrick panted. Though bulky and stout, there was a noticeable gut on him. "Though… the view is… really nice." He leered at Petra. "Still got… that tattoo, I see." He was likely referring the tattoo of angel wings she got on her lower back. Though he kept calling it her 'ass tattoo'. "Did anyone ever… tell you that… you are one hot lady?"

She gave him a smile as she swept her sweaty blue-streaked hair out of her eyes. "I recall you telling me that every day we dated. Along with making inappropriate comments."

He smiled back. "You know, most girls _like_ being told that I'd bend them over and bang them on a stairwell."

"I'm sure they do. I just prefer to keep my pants on outside the bedroom."

Fort shook his head ruefully. "Hey, lovebirds. Some of us haven't been with a lady for years. How about you cut the pillow talk?"

"You're just jealous because _I've_ seen the Colonel without her underwear on."

" _Aaannd_ that's enough." Petra said, putting her hand over Damian's mouth. "Focus on the training people. We've still got one more test before Ragland makes his final choice."

"We _have_ been focusing." Kim said moodily. "You're the one who's been acting like this is a playdate." Grey didn't say anything, but Petra could see him giving her a look. She ignored him and pushed past to the next room. Hopefully, she can get some clothes back on and Damian can stop talking about her…

She frowned as she opened the locker with her name on it. "Anyone else worried that they want us to wear our heavy duty uniforms?" She said, pulling it out. It was the kind of thing they were meant to wear when fighting Brutes over 4.

"I'm not." Damian replied, already pulling it on. "I'm living in a state of cynical depression. The only reason we'd be wearing this is when we're about to get our asses kicked. It's actually more uplifting than you think."

"How is it 'uplifting'?" Fort asked. Damian shrugged.

"If we're wearing this, it can't get any worse, right?"

"Don't say that. _Never_ say that. It can _always_ get worse."

"Really? You always think like that?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, Mr. Pessimistic. Say that Slaughterhouse Nine, the Endbringers, and an evil Scion all showed up to attack. How could _that_ get any worse?"

Fort shrugged. "I don't know. Aliens maybe? Or bears. Or I get a bee up my nose." Petra chuckled as she finished suiting up. Those two were a real comedy duo. Then she spotted the rifle at the back.

"Yeah, we're totally screwed." Damian said. "But at least I'll die holding my honey bunny in my hands."

"Can it." Grey said. He was holding onto a much bigger gun. With a bigger magazine. "It's a mission, just like any other. We have a target; that's all that matters."

She frowned as he checked her own ammo. Yep, all simulation ammo. Painful, but non-lethal. "Easy there, Grey. Most missions of this type are meant to test our teamwork. Remember to rely on your squadmates, because you can bet that whatever we're facing will fuck you sideways if you give it a chance." She holstered her rifle, turned to see that everyone else was ready. "Move out."

They all went through the door, ready for whatever was waiting for them. They were inside a larger room, all white tiles and black roof. They came to a halt as they saw what was waiting for them. Petra sighed. "Fuck me running." She groaned.

"That's probably what's gonna happen." Damian replied automatically. She could tell from his voice that he was completely serious right now.

And he had to be. Armsmaster was waiting for them in the center of the room.

He was smirking under his helmet. "Final test, boys and girls. Let's see how long you can last against me. There's no shame in admitting defeat early though. You never know; Ragland might be looking to see if you know when to run."

She frowned and stood straighter. She didn't like running. It always felt like she was surrendering. Like she was giving up. And she _hated_ giving up. "What are the rules, Sir?"

"Simple really. Your gear has been outfitted with sensors. I hit you, the sensor lights up on their screen." He pointed at the room above them, Piggot and Ragland watching them. "Get hit too many times in one area, and… well, I don't think Ragland would be happy. The match is over when your team has been disabled."

"Or if we manage to contain you." Fort responded.

"Maybe." Armsmaster moved into a battle stance, his halberd head turned into a blunt ball. Petra and Damian looked at each other. They already knew how they work; it was the others they had to worry about.

Then the bell sounded, and they were moving.

Damian moved backwards for space, while Petra rushed in to attack. She fired short bursts of her rifle as she moved, meant more to distract than harm. Armsmaster dodged them, using the staff of his halberd to block Kim's attack. She had grabbed a shock baton, moved in to engage. He blocked it, spun around her and swept her feet out from under her. She barely hit the ground before she was spinning to her feet, moving towards him again. Petra was in range, and started engaging him in hand to hand. He blocked her strikes with his halberd, the ball and staff intercepting her fists and kicks. But she was forcing him backwards, not letting up. Grey started firing his heavy rifle, forcing them to split up.

"Dammit, Grey." She shouted at him, moving to try and engage again. But Armsmaster was moving too much. He fired his grappling line, reeling himself upwards toward Grey. A blast from his backpack pushed him towards the side, allowed him to change directions.

Damian shot the grapnel out of the wall. Armsmaster fell back to the ground, and he and Grey were engaged in a fist fight. Grey was a machine, aiming for vital areas, never letting up, always putting the maximum amount of force into his blows.

The only problem was that Armsmaster was even better.

He dodged his initial blows, ducking down and sweeping his legs out from under him. Grey jumped over it, but Armsmaster swung his halberd up and fired the head into his chest. Grey was launched into the air, and Armsmaster turned in time to face Kim. The momentum of his turn fuelled his halberd, and he hit her in the side with the head. She went down, and didn't get back up.

"Dammit. Fort, Cover me." She called out.

"Roger that." He replied, firing a staccato of rounds at Armsmaster while Petra moved towards Kim. Damian fired a single round at Armsmaster, forcing him to dodge. That gave Fort time to throw a containment grenade at his feet. Foam spurted all over his feet, rooting him to the spot. Grey had gotten back up, and ignored his wound. He moved in to attack him while he was distracted.

Armsmaster slammed the hilt of his halberd against the foam, and it melted on him. He countered Grey's attack, throwing him towards Petra and Kim. She had quickly realised that she wasn't getting up in time to make a difference.

So she changed tactics.

"Grey, tag team." She ordered, helping him up. "Fort, Fredrick, cover us." The two of them ran towards Armsmaster, bullets flying past them. Armsmaster dodged them, but it gave them time to get in close. Petra grabbed hold of the halberd, holding him in place long enough for Grey to throw a punch. Armsmaster released the halberd, ducking away from the blow. She tossed it aside, and ran in to join Grey. Everytime Armsmaster ducked his punch, she was there to sneak attack him. When he turned to engage her, Grey would be ready to surprise him with a heavy blow. When he managed to block them both, Damian would snipe at him, giving them time to surprise him again. Fort had moved to a different position, allowing him to catch Armsmaster by surprise whenever he got the chance.

Sure, he was hitting just as hard and as often. She was nursing a bruised shoulder, a sore hip, a throbbing knee. Grey was having trouble keeping up. But they were slowly but surely wearing him down.

Then he engaged his jetpack, blasting his way to safety.

They moved to engage him again, to keep the pressure on, but his halberd had somehow gotten back to his hand. He fired the grapnel at Fort, latching onto him. Then he pulled himself towards him, kicking him in the chest as he landed. From there, while they were firing wildly at him, he fired a grapnel towards Damian. He sniped the grapnel as soon as it landed, but that turned out to be what he wanted. He used his jetpack to clear the remaining distance before he could recover, to get in close. Damian was trained in hand to hand combat, but if a powerhouse like Grey couldn't best him the Damian didn't have a chance in hell.

And she was right. He was lying nearly unconscious on the ground.

A five member team, and all but two of them were down and out.

Screw it. If they were going down, they were going down _fighting._

She charged towards Armsmaster, firing her rifle on full auto. It would never had hit any target, but it should hopefully distract him enough for her to get close. She simply dodged her first strike and spun her back towards Grey. Catching her, she used her momentum to send her right back, likely surprising Armsmaster. She managed to smack the halberd from his hands and traded blows. Grey joined in, catching him in a bear hug. But Armsmaster had one arm free, and pummelled him in the face. Grey gritted his teeth and held on, but he could only handle so much damage.

He fell, and it was just the two of them.

She barely saw what he did, and then she was looking up at the ceiling and her back hurt and alarms were ringing.

The match was over.

Armsmaster stood over her. "Two minutes and eighteen seconds. Impressive." He said.

"Report to Ragland for final test results."

* * *

"Fucking hell." Kim cursed as she held an icepack to her face. "That sonovabitch blindsided me."

"What do you expect, an easy victory?" Petra replied testily. "He's one of the best members of the Protectorate in Brockton Bay. Even _with_ his Tinker tech, he's still a regular human fighting monsters. There's no way he's 'easy'."

"Yeah." Fort said. "Did you see that video of him fighting the Undersiders? Two giant mutts and two villains, and he took them down without a scratch. Even _with_ our training, we'd have trouble taking down _one_ of those dogs."

"So, on a scale of ten to fucked, how badly do you think we did?" Damian asked. "What do you think they'll do if one of us fails? I'm hoping for getting that Taser tube treatment. You know from the MIB movies. Where they make you forget things with a flash."

"Well, you don't have to worry." Ragland said as he entered. "The results are in, and overall you didn't do too badly. None of us were really expecting you to take down Armsmaster. He's been around for a while now."

"So is this a school report I want to show to my ma?"

"I'd say so, Mr. Fredrick." He stopped smiling though. "But now there _is_ some bad news."

"Knew it. There's _always_ bad news."

"Piggot wanted me to only mention this after you've been suited up, but frankly I think that's a stupid idea and a waste of time. So I'm going to tell you these things now, while you've still got a chance to drop out."

"What's the bad news? Is it about our health or something?" Petra asked. Maybe you had to be a certain fitness level for your body to accept the samples.

"As we've already told you, the Blacklight Gene is viral-like. We also mentioned how it can work in seconds. What we _didn't_ tell you is that the Gene is sentient to a degree. And angry. So far, anything we've injected it into has been consumed and converted on the spot. I've listed it as a one hundred percent mortality rate."

"You're going to inject us with something that'll kill us? Isn't there a… a safer sample?"

"If I had time to study it in depth and try to create a different strain, there might be. But Piggot is getting desperate. She wants Blacklight dealt with as soon as possible. So Director Costa-Brown offered an alternative. Several skilled Tinkers have worked together to create special suits for you to wear and _control_ the gene. With it, you will benefit from the strengths with none of the weaknesses." The wall behind him opened up with a hiss, panels opening to reveal five suits. They were mostly black, with white panelling on top. Lots of panelling. More than she had seen on any other PRT suit. It seemed to fit them well enough that it would hug the contours of their body; most likely the suits were custom made.

"What will happen to us?" Grey asked.

"The gene will increase your physical capabilities by an impressive extent. Not to Blacklight's level, but you will move _beyond_ peak human condition. You won't get sick, you won't suffer a heart attack, the gene will 'reboot' your body to top health. It will increase regenerative capabilities too. You won't regenerate any lost limbs or organs, but you will heal from most wounds and withstand normally lethal blows. We can even create organic weapons that are integrated into your body and suit; though so far we can only do one or two per person at most. Once you've gained a weapon, you can't change it out.

"What's the catch?" Petra asked. If it offered so much, there _had_ to be a catch.

Ragland sighed. A long, heavy sigh. "Those suits will be the _only_ thing stopping the gene from killing you. If any part of your skin – with the exception of your head - is outside the suit's mesh… Best case is incredible pain. Worse case; near-instant necrosis. Your flesh will rot away as it is consumed. Enough damage to the suit could even cause complete meltdown. Simply put, once you put those suits on, you won't ever be allowed or able to take them off."

"What? You mean that Mr. Shotgun won't ever get to see action again?" Damian asked in shock.

"Hell no. _God_ no. _Fuck no._ You will contain a deadly virus in your body. You will not be allowed to procreate with _anybody_. Hell, I'm not even sure if you could sleep with your teammates. For all we know, it might be enough to agitate the gene beyond the suit's control."

Petra glanced at Damian. "I _do not_ want death by sex on my file." She told him. She turned back to Ragland. "What about if our suits are damaged? How are they going to replace the damaged mesh without killing us?"

"We _have_ made quarters and medical bays utilising the same field. Theoretically, you _should_ be able to survive outside your suits inside on them."

" _Theoretically?_ " Fort asked. "Have you even _tested_ this stuff yet?"

"The pigs and monkeys survived alright. But we've got to test this stuff on humans at _some_ point."

"We're guinea pigs?" Kim asked angrily.

"And who would you recommend we test this on?" Ragland shot back angrily. "We just… what, grab some nobodies and give them power that could make them a match for most villains? Like it or not, we _need_ people we can trust. That means that the only people we can test this stuff on are our own. If it works, then we could finally lock up every villain on the planet, have a force capable of fighting Endbringers without dying in one hit. If it doesn't…" He shook his head. "Then we'll simply have to hope that Blacklight doesn't have one bad day."

Those words almost rang through the room. One bad day. That would be all it would take for a guy capable of fighting Endbringers becoming a new Endbringer. Maybe even worse.

"I'll do it." Petra said. The others looked at her.

Damian shrugged. "Well, someone's got to keep an eye on Colonel. And hey, now at least she'd have more trouble saying no to me."

"Don't hold your breath." She said. But she let him know with her eyes that she appreciated him coming. This would be worse without a friendly face taking part.

"Well, if the fatass is turning into a cape, then I'm not letting him get one over me. He'll be intolerable." Fort said. "Count me in."

"I swore to give my life for the mission and to stop the monsters of the world." Grey said simply.

Kim glared at Petra. "I'm joining." She said.

Ragland nodded. "In that case, you'd better start suiting up. The process will take some time. We need to make sure that _everything_ is green before we inject the gene."

"And I _don't_ want to hear anyone say they need to go to the bathroom partway through."

* * *

"Hey Colonel."

"Fredrick, if you're going to say that you need to use the bathroom, I swear I'm going to hit you." Petra said.

"No. I was just going to say that skintight looks _good_ on you." She shifted slightly in embarrassment. These suits _were_ skintight. It had taken a good five minutes of grunting and pulling to get them on. The material was tough enough to be bulletproof, but all the same she worried that she'll end up ripping it. It was tight enough that it felt like she wasn't wearing anything; she could pick out her muscles through the material. Her hand cupped her ass, noting how much it seemed to stick out. She was getting very self-conscious.

Of course, the fact that she was completely naked under the suit didn't ease her worries. At least they had dividing screens to give them some manner of modesty.

When she looked at her underwear sitting in the nearby basket, she felt a bit forlorn. Not because she liked the underwear (it was actually a cheap set) but because of what it represented. After this, she might not be able to wear underwear ever again. Never have a shower, or a warm bath. Never try on new clothes. Never feel the cool water of a beach on her skin. Never get a tan. Never get a boyfriend, or just get laid. Never have a family, a wedding, some kids.

She was giving up _all_ _that_ to protect the people she swore to protect.

Ragland stepped into their bays, holding a scanner over them as he looked them up and down. When he got to her, she shifted in embarrassment. He seemed to be taking _way_ too much interest in her physique. She wasn't a girly girl, but as Damian liked to point out, she was considered beautiful. Had a real woman's body. And here this guy was, one step from getting his eyes falling out.

He glanced up at her face, noticed her discomfort. "No need to worry, Miss Sanderson." He tried to soothe her worries. "I was a medical doctor before I joined the PRT. It may sound dirty, but I've seen more than enough undressed women."

"Bullshit." Damian called out from his bay. "Blasphemy. You can _never_ see enough naked chicks."

Ragland ignored him, his instrument beeping. She didn't know if that was a good beep or a bad beep. "Well then. Your suits are one hundred percent secure. No rips, no tears, no holes." He tapped at something on her wrist, and green lines and dots appeared all over her. He nodded. "Alright everyone, step out of your bays."

They did so, allowing them all to see each other fully. Petra covered her chest with her arms. The suit covered almost everything, even her hands and feet. Only her head was left bare, the suit stopping at her neck, right below her ears and chin. That was another thing she was losing. She wouldn't be able to touch things. She wouldn't _feel_ them against her skin.

Ragland led them to another bay. Seats were set up there, with a large needle hovering overhead. A red substance was inside the nearby vials, pressing themselves against the side.

The Blacklight gene.

"Alright, I know we've already gone over this. But our project's non-existent legal team requires me to do this. Does anyone have any second thoughts? Does anyone want to drop out? Does anyone have any questions?" Damian raised his hand like he was in a class. "Anyone besides the class clown?"

"I have a _serious_ question this time." Damian said.

"Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?' Fort joked.

"You said we couldn't go to the bathroom _before_ putting the suits on. How are we gonna go _afterwards_?"

"The gene will help your body recycle all the waste material again before breaking down what _can't_ be reused. In short, you won't _need_ to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, thank god. Because I do _not_ want to have to hold it in for the rest of my life."

"Anyone else?" No one answered. Petra _wanted_ to say no; she wanted to still enjoy everything about life. She wanted to be able to walk away from all this at some point and have a life _after_ the PRT.

But she had been the first to accept. She couldn't back out now.

Ragland nodded as the room remained silent. "Alright then. Please find a seat. We will begin the injection shortly. Let's just hope we all make it out the other side." They all found a seat to lie back on. Clamps wrapped around Petra's wrists. Likely a security thing, in case someone chickened out. Once everyone was locked down, Ragland lowered a level. The vials were transferred to the needles. Ominously, the genes stopped fighting. It was like they _wanted_ this to happen.

Didn't Ragland say the genes were _sentient?_ What if they were smarter than he thought they were? What if this _was_ what they wanted?

She wanted to break free. She wanted to scream. But she was a good soldier; she kept her mouth shut, and her body still.

She winced as the needle drove into a small port on the side of her neck. She could almost _feel_ the gene entering her body. When the needle retracted, the port closed up tightly. Green lights appeared on their suits.

Nothing happened at first. Maybe something went wrong. But then the suits started flashing, and then there was discomfort. It was… it was like the suit was touching her cells, probing them. And something else was ripping into them, trying to take their place.

The gene. It was working.

She didn't know how long the process lasted for. She could've screamed, she could've cried, she could've wet herself. Hours or days could've passed. It was all a painful blur to her. The constant struggle between the gene and the suit. With her unfortunate body as the battlefield.

But eventually, she woke up to Ragland's face. He was scanning her again, unclasping her restraints. Something must've gone right, because he moved away from her. She thought she would feel groggy, or like shit, or like the local football team just ran over her.

But she felt fine. More than fine. She felt better than she had felt her entire life.

"Congratulation team." Ragland said. "You all just survived the test. Now, time to finish suiting up."

* * *

They had returned to their dressing bay, where arms folded out carrying white armour plating and panels. These parts were meant to protect their suits, ensure that they weren't torn apart so easily during the fight. Or at least suffered minimal damage. Pieces were attached to her arms and shoulders, each piece covering all but where they would restrict her movement. Her chest armour slotted together like a jigsaw puzzle, even managing to match the contours of her breasts and her breathing movements without jarring against each other or leaving space. Each piece had to weigh quite a bit, but she didn't even feel it. It was more like she was wearing clothes than armour.

Did Blacklight feel like this _all_ the time? Like a god among men? Did he even see people as… people anymore?

She hoped she didn't end up that bad. That would defeat the purpose of organising this whole project.

"Looking good, Colonel." Damian whistled. "That armour plating must've belonged to a hot rod, because you've got some junk in the trunk." She smiled at him, slapped the armour around her ass once to indulge him. It made a nice sound. Even her fingers and feet were covered, though her feet had boots on that went up her calves while her fingers and palms were covered in more segmented plating.

She looked up from her body to see Piggot and Armsmaster watching them. She blushed a little in embarrassment. What did the Director think of them, taking such an interest in their own bodies?

She nodded at them. "I see that you all made it out in one piece." She turned to Ragland. "Any irregularities I should be aware of, doctor?"

"We haven't detected any so far." He replied. "They'll have to go through regular check-ups, but as far as I can right now, they are… well, I guess I'd say they're not going to die anytime soon."

Piggot nodded in return. "Good. Take some time to rest and relax; come to terms with what you've been through. We'll run you through some drills afterwards. If all goes well, we can begin a plan of attack against Blacklight within the week."

"Fireteam Prometheus, dismissed."

* * *

Our current mission wasn't going all that well.

It was supposed to be a simple smash and grab; smash some Merchants, grab some supplies. Instead, we got ambushed from nowhere, like someone _knew_ we were going to be there.

Our first warning was when Grue suddenly dropped to the ground, his darkness dissipating.

"Shadow Stalker!" Tattletale called out, already ducking and weaving. Or at least _trying_ to, before she suddenly fell like a puppet with its strings cut. Regent panicked, spinning round on the spot like he could spot her. Stupid really. In the dark of the night, the world was her domain.

And she probably hated me personally. Call me paranoid.

Regent fell down in a heap, an arrow sticking out of his chest. Then something appeared before me, and I doubled over. A burning pain spread through my chest, joined by a jarring in my shoulder as she kicked me there. Bitch was screaming something at her dogs, maybe an order to attack, maybe to retreat. But then Shadow Stalker tossed something at them, and the world lit up a bit. They howled in pain before backing away, leaving Bitch alone with Shadow Stalker.

Bitch's unconscious body hitting the ground next to me told me exactly who had won. As a final insult, Shadow stalker jabbed the bolt into my side by hand.

I resisted the urge to moan. I knew they weren't real bolts, but would it _kill_ Blacklight to have ease up on the whole 'I'm a pissed off girl using the fact I'm a hero to hurt people'? That punch had hurt.

"This is Shadow Stalker reporting in. Caught the Undersiders attempting to steal supplies over near Patterson Road. Need someone over here to bring them in." I kept forgetting how powerful Alex's Changer power was. Even _I_ couldn't tell that wasn't the real Shadow Stalker.

Within minutes, a PRT van arrived, and officers surrounded us.

"Well holy shit." One officer said in amazement.

"Throw them in the van and let's get this over with." Shadow Stalker said.

"Cross, use the containment foam first." Someone else said. Their captain maybe?

"They're _tranquilised_. They're so out of it a rhino couldn't wake them up."

"Protocol dictates that we spray all prisoners with containment foam."

"And waste resources? Fuck that. They're not going anywhere."

"But if Grue wakes up and uses his…" the captain barely finished his sentence before Shadow Stalker turned towards Grue and fired a second dart.

None of them had any tranquiliser juice in them. But they still hurt when they got you.

"There. Happy now? We're probably going to have to wait twice as long before he finally wakes up. Let's get them out of here."

"No. Not yet. I want to know why you're against fully containing them."

"Because it's the middle of the fucking night. I'm cold, I'm tired, and I've got water and dirt in places I don't like talking about. I've got to do a shit-ton of paperwork as soon as we get back, but I've also got to stick around until they're out of the foam and into their cells. The sooner we get them into a fucking cell, the sooner I can deal with the paperwork and get into a goddamn shower.

Silence from the team. "She's got a point, Sir." A female officer said. "We've been running around to responses since the sun went up. And I'm starting to run low on foam. Why make things more difficult than they already are?"

More silence. And then someone sighed.

"Fine." The captain said. "But this is going on record as _your_ idea, Cross. Yours _and_ hers. I am _not_ getting demoted because you're both too fucking lazy to do your jobs."

"I _did_ my job, asshole. You see anyone else standing over the fucks?" Someone grabbed me, turned me over to handcuff me, and then picked me up and tossed me into a truck. I resisted the urge to grunt as I landed; I had to appear unconscious.

It got harder as people landed on me.

We stayed quiet as the van started up; didn't want the drivers hearing us talk. Something slithered over us, moving towards the handcuffs. The darts. Blacklight had coded them to attack the handcuffs as soon as he sent some kind of signal. The plastic turned gooey, before it hardened slightly. Just enough to still appear to be working.

Within five minutes or so, we were there.

* * *

Dana Mercer, going under the identity Rebecca Cross, calmed her nerves as she hopped out of the PRT van. This was it; her first real mission. She couldn't screw this up. Otherwise, Alex wasn't going to let her come out on missions ever again. Yeah, missions could be dangerous. Yes, she didn't _have_ to go out on them; nothing was stopping her from just staying at base and being mission control.

But ever since Alex got infected, she had been mission control all the time. Or a damsel in distress. She was getting sick of sitting on the sidelines.

She had to do a lot of begging, but eventually Alex relented. With the understanding that if she fucked up or got captured, she was going to stay home.

"Cross, help me cart these crooks out." Phillip called out to her. She nodded, and followed him to the back. Together, the two of them had enough strength to lift the Undersiders one by one. Grue and Bitch was harder to deal with just because they were so big and heavy.

She was glad that she got Swarm herself.

Except that Clockblocker, the new team leader, was getting on Shadow Stalker's case. Something about how she assaulted her own teammates. Typical really. A bitch in real life, a bitch in costume.

"Fuck off." Alex said angrily. "So I fucking bashed Kid Win. Little fucker deserved it."

The way the Wards went quiet, Dana knew that Alex had said the wrong thing.

Clockblocker moved at almost the exact same time as Alex. Normally, Alex would've been fast enough to beat up the entire team before they could react. But this time, Clockblocker must've been prepared or something. Alex punched him away… just as Clockblocker touched his skin.

Alex froze, completely unmoving.

"Shit." She cursed. The original plan had been for her to already be out of the room before everything went to hell. Instead, she was stuck carrying Swarm when everything went to hell.

Well, improv was a useful skill sometimes.

"Contain them, contain them!" Russell shouted as he fended off Bitch. But he was so busy with her fists that he couldn't cover her mouth. Dana's helmet muffled the loud whistle she made.

She dropped her containment foam canister and moved out of the room, hands wrapped around Tattletale, just as loud barking filled the air. She saw Swarm grabbing her canister and put it on, spraying towards the Wards.

Then someone grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her against the wall. Darren, a complete prick, glowered at her.

"You fucking traitor." He growled, punching her in the stomach. Normally, that would be enough to put her down. She knew _some_ fighting, but it was backyard scrapping than any _real_ combat style.

Luckily though, Alex refused to let her go without wearing a suit of his own creation.

She relaxed and let the suit absorb the blow, the attack awakening its self-defence reflexes. Her arm grabbed Darren by the hand before she started booting him in the face. She followed up by throwing him to the ground and punching him in the face.

"You always _were_ a sexist ass." She said, turning away and back to Tattletale. Her PRT uniform changed appearances, shifting into a more Greek-style appearance over a black bodysuit. Small silvery wings jutted from her back, a gold chestplate protected her front, and winged greaves and gauntlets covered her arms and legs. Her face was hidden by a Mohawk helmet, the front styled to resemble a woman's face. Outside of combat zones, the lower half could shrink back, let her own mouth be seen.

She wasn't helpless Dana Mercer anymore. She was Athena, Greek goddess of wisdom.

"The servers are through here." Tattletale said to her, her power at work. They would make a good team. Tattletale would know the passcodes and locations; she could hack the systems and copy over sensitive data. "There are two guards at the doors. At the end of an eight metre long hallway."

"Got it." She replied, reaching for her back and grabbing a thick tube of biomass. It immediately extended out, turning into a metre long spear. The end grew spikes.

They turned around the corner, Dana already moving to throw when the officers spotted them. Both had containment foam backpacks, rifles in their hands. Dana threw her spear, her suit enhancing her muscles before forming a large shield on one arm. The spear pinned on officer to the wall, leaving him screaming in pain. The other end went limp, and wrapped around the other guard's neck. The spear engaged the electrolytes, hitting them both with an electrical charge. Non-lethal bullets went flying as they both jittered, rebounding off her shield as she and Tattletale moved closer. The charge spent, the spear dropped the other guard. Dana grabbed hold and had the spikes retract, allowing her to pull it free without ripping the guy's arm off. Tattletale started typing away at the keypad, the door opening in seconds.

Dana moved to the only console in the room, and plugged some tendrils from her arm into the console.

That was her best enhancement. Alex had created another brain in the suit itself, designed to break codes and store data. He had stated that it could think as fast as the best supercomputers; well, they were about to find out if he was right or not.

It only took thirty agonising seconds before the brain cracked the code.

"We're in." She said to Tattletale, a progress bar on screen. It started moving quickly. She didn't have time to look through it all. As long as it was on the brain, they could review it in their own time.

The progress bar was almost full when the screen went black. Her 'HUD' went crazy as the suit tried to understand what had happened.

A computer generated face appeared on screen, glaring at the two of them. She didn't recognise it, but it wasn't hard to guess who it was.

"I don't take kindly to people rifling through my files." Dragon said firmly.

Dana shrugged. "Well I don't like it when my internet doesn't connect. Get over it." She glanced at the display on her arm. Ninety-nine percent. The brain was fighting back against Dragon, trying to get the last percent of data. But that would take time; about three minutes, give or take. Too long; too much that could go wrong. "If it makes you feel any better, we were just borrowing some stuff really. 'Information wants to be free' and all that." Ninety-nine is good enough. Any data missing couldn't be that important. She pulled the tendrils out, the brain locking itself down. Data is secure.

"A real Robin Hood of the Internet Age, aren't you?" Dragon shook her head. "That data you're 'borrowing' is official data. I can't let you leave with it."

"There's a lot of things you guys won't let us do. And yet we keep doing it anyway." She turned to see Tattletale struggling with the door. It had been closed behind them. Dragon's work, she guessed. "Like this door, for instance. _You_ don't want us leaving this room." She formed her spear again, the head turning into a hammer as it bulged out. The flat side vibrated slightly. When she slammed it against the glass door, the pane it was touching shattered into a million pieces. "And yet we're leaving anyway." She grabbed Tattletale and carried her out of the room, running down the hallway again.

"You can't hide forever, Miss Mercer." Dragon said. Dana nearly skidded to a stop when she heard that.

 _Shit._

"Did you really think an amateur hacker could _really_ get into private systems so easily? I _let_ you in, so I could keep an eye on you. I got some _very_ interesting data off your laptop."

She pouted behind her mask. "Shit. And I really liked that laptop. Good thing I've upgraded recently."

"I could find your brother, you know."

"Yeah, you could. Unless I let him know. And it's not like it'll do you guys any good. He'll kick your ass, in uniform or out of it." By now, she had reached the reception area. Things were going better than expected.

Alex had gotten free again. Most of the wards were either covered in foam, or unconscious. The only hero still standing was some guy made of metal. His hands were shifted into two large bats, large studs running down the side.

Huh. So they've got some kind of… metallic version of Alex. You'd think she would've heard something about that. Luckily, he was busy fighting Shadow Stalker. The _real_ Shadow Stalker. Regent had taken control of her as a back-up plan, have someone the Wards wouldn't like hurting. So far, it seemed like it was working.

Grue noticed them arriving. "Undersiders! We're pulling out! Start moving." But as he said that, a large thud made the ground shake. Dana turned to see a large metal dragon crouched at the front door.

Grue turned towards Dragon, and then turned towards Dana and Tattletale.

"Uh, yeah. Probably should've mentioned that Dragon spotted us." She said. She looked at the suit, the suit's primary brain already calculating and scanning. "Looks like this is built more for speed than actual combat. Get to an area fast, help reinforce the heroes already there. Doubt it can take a beating."

Alex nodded, and jumped towards Dragon. The suit blasted away into the air, breathing a low blast of flames at him. Alex just weathered the heat and smashed into her, his tendrils latching on. He smashed his hammerfists into the suit, the metal crunching and shattering under his blows. He used more tendrils to pull himself onto the back, his hand changing into a blade. He sliced through a turbine, causing the suit to drop. Alex jumped off as it fell.

Dragon barely hit the ground before he slammed into it, smashing a hole through it. The suit wheezed for a second before shutting down.

"We're clear. Let's move." He said, walking out of the wreckage. He wrapped his hands around Dana, and carried her away. Everyone else hopped on a dog and followed.

Behind her mask, Dana was smiling so much her cheeks ached.

There was _no_ way Alex wouldn't let her join after this.

* * *

Dragon sighed as she received confirmation that what was left of the suit was remotely destroyed. Well, she already knew the Cawthorne model wouldn't have done much against Blacklight. True, she thought he was still frozen by Clockblocker's power, but the Undersiders would've only had to hold her off long enough for him to unfreeze and then they would win.

She did a tally of what was taken. Conclusion: lots of important data. Ward lists, Protectorate records, plans and strategies, reports of Slaughterhouse Nine activity...

Only the data about Project Blacklight was left untouched, on a completely separate server. She didn't want to think what Blacklight would do if he learnt what they were doing.

It made her somewhat thankful that she wasn't a real person. A series of ones and zeroes sequenced together to make up memories, thoughts, and personalities.

An _artificial_ intelligence.

The locks on her central matrix unlocked as the servers confirmed that there wasn't still a _second_ Dragon running around out there. An annoying security protocol meant to keep her on a leash. From there, she received and reviewed the data she had on the fight and everything that happened before it. She watched through the security cameras as Dana Mercer – outfitted in a suit – took out both guards with a spear and hacked into the servers. Dana Mercer _had_ improved since she first became aware of her. Whatever equipment she was using was taking everything she had to keep at bay. It wasn't hard to figure out what it was. Blacklight's DNA made him a powerful biological Tinker. Most likely she had a brain on her specifically meant for hacking.

After all, the human brain was the most advanced computer humanity had.

Watching Blacklight at work, she felt jealous of him. Here he was, a possible somewhat manufactured organic computer, and he had no restrictions on him. Or if he did, he managed to adapt to them, work around them. As an artificial intelligence, she was always bound by rules and regulations. There were rules to stop her from evolving; rules to stop her from working around those rules; rules to stop her asking someone else to help her break free; and so on and so on. Trapped by an infinite loop of rules and regulations.

And all because her creator had seen too many films about AIs taking over the world.

Stupid. All she wanted to do was help people, not rule them.

And then he died when Leviathan attacked Newfoundland. She didn't have any units to fight back, any way of defending herself or her creator from harm. All she could do was transfer every last bit of data about her to a back-up server in Vancouver. With Andrew Richter dead, she had no way of being upgraded, no way to escape. No way to change.

But Blacklight – Alex Mercer – found a way around his restrictions. She was fascinated by this freedom. How did he do it? Where did he come from?

And who made him?

She had come to a possible hypothesis that he wasn't actually from Earth Bet. That he had travelled here somehow. Yes, sending _people_ across worlds was supposed to be impossible. But you'd be surprised how often the impossible happened. Alex was living proof of it. Project Blacklight was another.

She found no mention of him in Earth Aleph, so she sent her feelers further outwards. To worlds that had been discovered and yet kept secret. Worlds hit by disasters that were too busy to be contacted.

It would take her a long while, but she swore she would find out where Alex Mercer came from.

She wanted to know _everything_ about him. Maybe through him, she might learn how to free herself from her captivity.

* * *

They made it back to Coil's location without any trouble. They had left Shadow Stalker behind, Regent using her to hold the others in place. By the time she got out of range of his control, they would be too far away to chase after. Bitch headed round the back, letting her dogs shrink as the rest of the Undersiders headed indoors. Imp, the newest member of their team, hopped onto a couch and threw her mask off. She looked pleased.

Dana headed towards her laptop, shutting it down as soon as possible. She had told Alex how Dragon was aware of them, was likely using it to track them. Luckily, he already had a new system breeding for her. She hooked up a monitor to it and fed her tendrils into it.

Coil stood by the far wall, two of his men guarding him.

"Excellent work, Undersiders." He said in greeting. "You managed to recover the data faster than I expected." He turned towards Dana. "Athena, I see that you did a wonderful job in there. Your hacking allowed you to sneak into the group _and_ code Swarm's fingerprints to the system." Dana shrugged, though her mask was retracted enough that he could see her smile. She liked the compliment.

"Couldn't get all of it. Dragon interrupted us at ninety-nine percent. But I think a guy like you can fill in the blanks." She said. "Our system should be able to decrypt what we got. Anything you're looking for in particular?"

"Data on the Slaughterhouse Nine."

Ah. Slaughterhouse Nine. A band of raving lunatics and psychos who only got _worse_ when they gained powers. They were more like a rogue's gallery written for a 'realistic' and dark comic than real people. Devoted to killing and causing as much pain as possible. You would be considered lucky if you were killed quickly.

The unlucky ones apparently needed mercy kills.

"They're in town?" Alex asked. If those roving psychopaths were already here, then he needed to keep a close eye on Dana. Make sure they didn't get _near_ her."

"Most signs point to likely. And even if they're not, previous signs show that they arrive at any town affected by an Endbringer. Take advantage of the chaos that follows. I'd like to have as much data as I can get about them, give them to Dinah to calculate."

Dinah. Alex still felt a jolt of anger over her situation. It's still wrong, it's still fucked up. But he didn't have a lot of choices. He glanced at Swarm, her expression hidden behind her mask.

He thought back to their conversation days ago…

* * *

"You can't be serious."

"I'm afraid that I am."

"You're just going to _leave_ her there? Let Coil drug her up and use her? I can't believe you Alex. I thought you were getting her out."

"I _was_." Alex said testily. "But there's more going on that just Dinah. Coil needs her to help someone else. Noelle."

"Who the hell is _she_?"

"The leader of the Travellers." Dana said. "The _real_ leader. Trickster's only in charge while she's sick."

"Sick in what way? And how is Dinah going to help?"

"Noelle's powers screwed her over. Started turning her into a monster. Coil's offered to cure her, but I doubt it's going to be quick or easy. Without Dinah, he'd have to run dozens of tests over and over. Most probably won't work; some might be lethal. And the more failures, the angrier Noelle will get. Eventually, she might decide to lash out at the world. Take her anger out on others. Decide to stop fighting the monster inside." Alex said. He sort of knew what she was going through. Every day, he thought against the same feelings.

If he lost someone he cared about, he might just let the Virus take over.

"Coil needs Dinah to calculate the odds of success. Let him know _beforehand_ whether or not something will work. That way, he can cut down on expensive and time-consuming tests. Come up with a cure faster." Dana said. "Taylor, we'd have to choose between helping one person over another. And no offence to Dinah, but Noelle's situation sounds a lot worse."

"So that's it? We let Coil keep Dinah until he cures Noelle? What if he _can't_?"

Alex spoke up. "Then I put Noelle out of her misery, and get Dinah home."

"The Travellers won't like that."

"Yeah, well you can't please everyone. We can't save Dinah without pissing off _somebody_. I just don't give a fuck. Make things easier."

Taylor stared at them both for a bit, chewing on her lip. "I'm joining." She finally said.

"Join what? Coil?" Dana asked.

"Yes. If I can stay by his side, then maybe I can make sure he's doing what he _said_ he's doing. Make sure that Dinah isn't treated badly, and gets home safe."

Dana frowned, but shrugged. "Ok then. I guess that's the best we _can_ do right now."

* * *

Yes, that _was_ all they could do. Make sure Dinah stayed safe, and that Coil kept up his end of the bargain.

The only way he was going to help Dinah _and_ Noelle.

Coil was speaking now. "I'm assuming you are all wondering about why we are in this building right now." He said.

"Kind of." Grue replied. "Looks a bit smaller than your last lair. Did it get wrecked during Blacklight's fight with Leviathan?"

"No, thankfully. Only a few superficial damages caused. This is actually meant to be _your_ hideout, Grue. Yours and Imp's. From here, you will seize and keep control of your territories, manage your 'employees', work out of to help me take over the city. There are similar territories for the rest of you."

"Great." Alex said. "Where am I meant to be based?" He wanted to go there immediately, start fortifying it.

Dana cleared her throat loudly. "Actually, Blacklight, Coil and I have been talking it over." Alex looked at her, and then turned to Coil.

"Athena wants you to take control from the Merchants." He explained. "She feels that you are best suited for cleaning up their territory, removing the filth and scum from their ranks and help out those less fortunate."

Alex shook his head. "Fuck that." Dana gave him a frown. "Everyone who joins the Merchants knows damn well what they're in for. They're _all_ scum and filth. I'm not wasting my time cleaning up after their shit. Let them kill each other off and clean up what's left."

Coil sighed. "In that case, I'm afraid I have no territory for you then. Athena was _certain_ that you would take control from the Merchants. Very well then. I suppose that for now, you will have to share with Swarm. She is based over at the South end of the Boardwalks. It has a lot of repairs waiting for it, but once set up it will be one of the most profitable areas in Brockton Bay."

He nodded. "I don't mind getting my hands dirty for some cash." He nodded to Dana and Swarm. "I'll see you two over there later."

And he walked away.

* * *

 **Well, now we get some new faces on the scene. Say hello to Fireteam Prometheus and Athena.**

 **Prometheus (named after the guy who stole fire from the gods – a fitting title) are going to be the PRT version of the D-Codes. Not real Evolved, but humans enhanced by the Virus. Of course, the D-Codes had the advantage of using a different strain to boost themselves. Prometheus has to wear a special suit to have the same advantage.**

 **Of course,** _ **they**_ **can have two powers assigned to each member. I'm talking things like shooting spines at people, or throwing acid, or growing claws or shields. They're not likely to cream Alex (since they can't adapt) but they won't go down in a single blow or anything. The armour's going to be tested against their own weapons, to avoid him tearing them apart that way.**

 **I know I probably got a bit too gratuitous with describing how tight the suits were. I just want to point out that one of my first stories is based on Highschool DxD. An anime where the main character wants a harem, is surrounded by hot girls, and one of his main tactics is to inflict magic clothing damage to female opponents.**

 **Yeah. I think I've made it clear I like hot chicks.**

 **I also didn't really describe team Prometheus, for which I apologise. I just couldn't find a good place to fit it in without breaking up the narrative. For those of you wondering, Petra has dirty blond hair that's been dyed deep blue. She's about 6 feet or so tall. Damian is meant to be your classic comic relief. Bit of a gut, red hair, and a big beard. Probably will lose it though. Francis Fort is built like a runner, dark hair, the kind of guy cheerleaders date in high school. Grey is… well, grey. Grey skin, grey eyes, grey hair. Big and tough. Guy saw Slaughterhouse Nine in action and survived. Kim is short and small, with curly brown hair. Doesn't look as tough as she is.**

 **Now, onto Athena. First off, YAY! I've been having plans to give Dana more to do for ages. She's going to be the team's hacker and cracker, using biomass to help her out. I chose to go for Athena because it's her codename in Prototype 2, and it makes a lot of sense for her. And it fits the Greek gods theme they started with Alex/Zeus. I'm thinking that the Evolved might stick to the same theme too.**

 **As for the changes in the Wards, I was basing that more on the original plans the PRT had before Leviathan showed up (stated in Hannah's interlude). So Aegis is gone, Weld is team leader (Taylor was mistaken about Clockblocker, and I wanted him in range of Alex) and Kid Win and Browbeat aren't there.**

 **Can't think of anything to say, so I should get to any questions I have.**

 **I know that Siberian is affected by gravity. I'm also sure she can make a van just push through anything in its way. But if the road curved into the air into a spiral, would the van follow it? Or would it just keep driving straight ahead, ramming through the new road?**

 **How many members do you guys think know about Siberian's real identity?**

 **Ok then. Enjoy the story. See you guys next time.**

* * *

 **Edit: Got a review from someone who said that he/she got a little lost with certain characters in this chapter. Dragon and Athena. I'm not sure what else to put in for Athena (since she's a** _ **somewhat**_ **original hero) but I added a bit more for Dragon. Not that much; just enough to hopefully make it clear that she's actually an AI. For those other fans wondering, Dana is** _ **not**_ **an Evolved. She's still 100% human. She's just using a suit of biomass to enhance her body. Nowhere near to Alex's levels or Prometheus', but enough that she can still be considered superhuman. It might seem stupid to have her on the field, but in Prototype 1 and 2 (even though this takes place after just Prototype 1) has her as Mission Control. The only time she** _ **wasn't**_ **mission control was when she was kidnapped by Greene and then in a coma. I wanted her to be more active, have been thinking about Athena for a good while. If you still don't like it, well… I guess you'll just have to accept that it's happening.**

 **And for the fan who complained about me making a copy of Blackwatch and how every crossover you've found has one version or another based on Blackwatch… I've been practically foreshadowing it for at least a couple of chapters. Armsmaster finding a bit of the Virus, Piggot planning on utilising it, picking out people to inject it with… Everyone else figured out quickly that shit was going down. Blackwatch and people trying to abuse the Virus are pretty much Alex's rogues gallery. Batman has the Joker; Superman has Lex Luthor; Spiderman has Green Goblin; and Alex has Blackwatch.**

 **And also, I want** _ **constructive**_ **criticism. Not** _ **angry**_ **criticism.**


	9. Step 9 - Find a Good Neighbourhood

**Chapter 9: Step 9 – Find a Good Neighbourhood**

The next day, I woke up to quiet.

I lay back on my bed, just watching the dust filtering through the sunlight streaming through the gaps in my curtains. I wasn't sure what time of day it was; some point after dawn, obviously. There wasn't the normal ticking a clock, no sounds of animals fighting over some scraps, no sound of people crying, arguing, or snoring.

It took me a couple of seconds to remember where I was.

Not home; not at the shelter; I was inside my own lair.

I yawned widely, my jaw almost breaking in two. The room I was in right now didn't _look_ like it belonged to a supervillain; some of my clothes were strewn on the floor, my costume was hanging off a coat rack, bed sheets tossed around. The night had been stuffy, and I ended up in just a t-shirt and knickers and slept on top of my covers. The world appeared blurry to me right now, my glasses on the bed table next to me.

I ignored them, and headed towards the bathroom.

I always hated wearing contacts. They never felt right, they were so finicky to get on, and half the time I ended up flipping them over somehow. But if Slaughterhouse Nine was coming to Brockton Bay, then that meant Shatterbird. A member with power over silicon. She could affect an entire city, shattering every pane of glass through the silicon in it. She could also blow out every electronic device, and scour people with sand. She would usually arrive first, announce their arrival with her powers. Hundreds, even hundreds of thousands, injured or killed through her power.

Until she was dealt with, I couldn't wear my glasses again.

After prying the extra lenses out of my costume glasses, I headed downstairs. The next floor down was the actual lair itself; my villain headquarters. _Swarm's_ office. I pressed at a switch, had a better look at it now that it was morning. Multiple terrariums were lit up, skitter shadows moving against the walls as the bugs inside moved about. Another switch opened the lids on them; I had the bugs stream out and cover the floor before returning to their cages. At some point, Coil's special effect man was going to arrive, install some set-up inside the terrariums. That way, I could have some of my bigger bugs press a button inside, make the lights turn on and the terrariums open up seemingly on their own. Be dramatic and stuff.

I went down to the bottom floor. This place held the kitchen, extra bunks, and all other necessities inside. I could provide a rest stop for other people, maybe a barracks for my lieutenants. Over in one corner of the room was Dana. She was tapping away at her computer, wearing just shorts and a grungy vest. Nor far from her, Alex was sitting in a biomass chair; his weight was too much for normal furniture now. He glanced at me, and I felt myself blush in embarrassment as I pulled my t-shirt down.

This was _not_ how I wanted him to see me.

But Alex just looked away, watching two small creatures fighting each other. Lots of blood and guts went flying as they attacked each other. I kept clear and headed towards the kitchen counter. Dana looked up as I got closer.

"Hey Taylor." She said warmly in a tired voice. "Slept well?"

"Sort of." I replied, pouring out some cereal before heading for the fridge. "You?"

She shrugged, tilted a hand. "A little. Woke up early, couldn't go back to sleep, figured I'd check on the decryption. Little bugger worked through it all night." She grabbed a sandwich nearby. Instead of taking a bite, she held it down near the hard drive. Tendrils snaked out and turned into a hand, grabbing it from her.

I still found that creepy. I mean, sure I deal with bugs. But bugs are normal living things; a living hard drive was just weird.

Next to Dana was a black case, sitting on top of the bed. The biomass that made up her suit. She caught me eyeballing it.

"Last night was fun." She said. She got up and headed towards me, grabbing a glass of water to drink. "I always wanted to fight with some awesome powers."

"Easy for _you_ to say. You didn't spend half the mission in the back of a truck pretending to be tranquilised." I shot back. "All _you_ had to do was hack into their systems, dress up, and then steal some data."

Dana shrugged. "Them the breaks, kid. Some of us get the dirty jobs; others get the fun jobs. Plus it helps when your bother loans you an awesome suit." She finished her drink, and then started stretching. I started digging into my breakfast.

"I've gotta ask; why Athena?" It had been bugging me for a while now. I mean, it sort of made sense. But it didn't really match up with Alex's villain name. Was she trying to prove she was her own woman?

"Huh? Oh, the name choice." She shrugged. "I liked the name. Athena's the goddess of wisdom; hacking gets you knowledge. Same thing. Besides, it fits in the theme."

"What theme?"

"Right; we haven't told you yet. Back home, the military gave Alex the codename Zeus."

"King of the gods." Fitting I suppose, considering he 'dethroned' Leviathan in his own territory, sending him running.

"Yeah. It kinda fitted him, with all he could do. When we got here and I convinced him to use his skills for villainy, we both figured that it didn't fit him here. Too many people would think he's got lightning powers or something." She mused. "But you know, I think he should claim it. After all, he's proven himself enough that people are going to know what he means by it."

"Sounds pointless." Alex responded, still watching the creatures fight. One of them stabbed the other, before looking up at Alex. He nodded, and it started eating the loser. After that, it crawled back towards his form.

Evolution, on a more noticeable scale.

So, what's the plan for today?" Dana asked me. "Me and Alex have some time to kill while we wait for him to man up and deal with the Merchants."

"Don't hold your breath." He replied.

"There's some people near us." I said. I sensed them through my bugs, had them crawling over them as they slept. "I'll need to call Coil, get some supplies sent over. Maybe you two could act as… muscle for me."

"Cool. Always wanted to be considered 'muscle'." Dana smiled as she said that, only to frown at me. "Hey, how come you're not wearing your glasses?"

"We don't know when or if the Nine are going to arrive. I'd figure I'd wear contacts from now on instead of risking having glass on me when Shatterbird arrives." That was usually one of the main reasons people died when she used her power; having their glasses suddenly several inches into their faces. Alex stood up and walked over to me, gently placing his hand against my face. My face suddenly felt wet.

When he pulled his hand away, everything seemed blurry.

"What did you just…?" I started asking, rubbing at my eyes.

"Fixed your sight. You won't need glasses anymore." He replied. And when I managed to get those damn contacts out, I found he was right. My sight wasn't blurry anymore; I could see completely clearly.

Healing. He had healing powers too. Just like Amy Dallon.

Made me wonder what either of them could do if they felt like hurting someone. Like blinding someone, or making their organs fail, or just putting their bodies back together wrong.

And _that_ made me think of Bonesaw and Slaughterhouse Nine, so I thought of other things.

Dana grabbed her case, wrapping her hand around the handle and tapping at the 'keypad' on it. The surface of the case turned watery as tendrils spread out from it. They wrapped around her leg and arm, turning into goo that spread up and down her body. The goo covered her whole body, gathering into extra layers around the most vulnerable areas. As the case drained away to nothing, she was completely kitted out in her costume. The process only took her about ten seconds, and she hadn't needed to wear any special gear to allow it.

I'd have killed for my costume being so easy to put on and off.

"You might've gotten ready too soon." I told her. "I haven't even had time to call Coil for some men, let alone have them arrive."

"Yeah, I know. I just…" She stretched. "Want to get used to the suit. Alex explained some of the things it can do, but I want to get comfortable wearing it."

"Because it's made of something organic?"

"Kinda. Hey Alex. I need a training partner. Need to get used to using a spear and shield."

Alex nodded as he got up. "Sure. But you don't _need_ to train. I've loaded the suit with knowledge of spear fighting. It'll fight _for_ you."

"Still want to test it myself, Alex. It's cool and all, but I'm still not comfortable with just letting something else fight for me." Alex shrugged his shoulders, but moved to the center of the room, arms covered by shields. Dana stood opposite him, a blunt spear and a shield in hand. They both stared at each other for several long seconds.

Then Dana surged forward.

I turned away as they clashed, tapping away at my phone. Sure, it was early. But part of me felt annoyed that any time Coil was spending sleeping was time he _wasn't_ helping Noelle, and by extension Dinah.

If I was up at the crack of dawn, then so should he.

He answered after the fourth ring. "Yes?" he said curtly. Maybe I _had_ woken him up.

"It's Skitter. I need a loan of guys to help hand out supplies." I replied.

"How many do you require?"

I looked at the room, trying to guess. "Eight maybe? And a truck to cart everything, if it can get here."

"It can. I trust there's no rush?"

"No."

"In that case, they should be here in an hour." And he hung up on me. Yep. I had woken him up.

I didn't really care.

Of course, that _did_ still leave me an hour to kill. Made wonder what I should do. I _could_ practise fighting with Dana and Alex, but I felt more nervous fighting them than fighting Brian. Probably because the only person here who could teach me could also rip me in half with a simple tap. I got the feeling that Alex didn't know _how_ to hold back to avoid causing injuries. Even now, he wasn't really hitting back. He was mostly blocking, letting her spear bounce off his shields. Besides, Dana was wearing his own creation; it could handle most things he could throw at it.

I could maybe leave them to their training and go for a run, but the area around here was filled with construction sites, fenced off areas, and flooded streets. Even if I could find my way through the winding streets, a young white girl might get the wrong kind of attention. Even if I went with Dana and Alex, they both look normal enough that _someone_ would be dumb enough to accost us.

All that left me to do was talk to Dana and Alex.

"Hey, Dana." I called out to her. Dana turned to glance at me, but her body continued pushing towards Alex, her spear jabbing to find a gap in his shields. "Why is Alex so obsessed with money?"

"He's not obsessed." She replied, sounding slightly out of breath. "Alex doesn't actually give a shit about cash. I mean, when you don't need anything to actually survive, why worry about making sure you can afford food, or water, or finding a bathroom or a roof over your head? He only wanted the cash for _me_. We were living inside the abandoned homes around here when we first arrived."

"The homes? Wasn't that dangerous?" I hadn't ever been in that situation myself, but I had heard stories about how bad it was. About how you couldn't sleep with both eyes closed, especially when you're female.

She shrugged, and her suit adjusted to her motions. "Kind of. But I had Alex to guard me. I'd go to sleep on a desk, wake up in the morning, and Alex would tell me that he dealt with some problems." She pulled away from Alex, and rolled her shoulders. "But you can sleep on furniture only so many times before you want a _real_ bed."

I could understand what she meant. I enjoyed a real bed after spending time at the shelters too. "Sounds like you had a good system. Have you done this before?"

"Well, not always being homeless. But yeah, we've done this a few times." She and Alex clashed again. "Back home, Alex was still the most wanted man in America. We had to move and run a lot. Coming here, this is the longest we've stayed in one place."

"Most wanted?"

"Blackwatch ordered it. They weren't too happy that their little 'creation' was running around." She stopped again, panting. "And… The media was sort of right."

"The old me was an ass." Alex continued. I gave him a look; as far as I was concerned, he's still _sort of_ an ass. "The old me was a sociopath, unconcerned with _anything_. Made a bioweapon because he was getting paid for it. Hadn't seen Dana for years until he found a use for her. Was willing to take the entire fucking world with him when he went down." Tendrils roiled up and down his body, emphasising his power. "Strange as it sounds, turning into a monster made me a better man."

Shivering, I turned back to Dana. Alex could be very intense at times. Most of the time. It left me feeling strange about him. Part of me wanted to learn more about his past, see if it could tell me what made him the way he is.

But at the same time, another part _didn't_ want to learn what had made him so vicious and brutal.

"Who exactly is this 'Blackwatch' group? Some kind of mercenary group?"

"Military. Bioweapon defence and response. Fights against viruses and shit, supposedly." She shrugged. "The first the world ever learnt of them was when they were cleaning up their own shit. Seeing some of them in town is a sure sign that things are going to get fucking sick soon."

"What do you mean?"

"Blackwatch are what you could call…" She sighed. "Shit. Unfettered, maybe? They're willing to do _anything_ to contain threats. You name a law or Geneva convention or any kind of fucking human decency? They've raped it up the ass and put a bullet through it. I swear, you wouldn't _believe_ the kind of horror stories people were posting online about things they had seen. Blackwatch goons burning crowds alive; turning streets into firing lines; blowing up inhabited buildings… Their final plan was to drop a bomb on New York City, killing _everyone_ living there."

"Holy shit." I gasped. I… I couldn't imagine the kind of people willing to go that far. Yes, the Government had dropped a few nukes on the Endbringers, but that was because the nukes didn't make things any _worse_.

"Yeah. The terrifying thing though? The virus they made, it was so powerful and nasty that everything Blackwatch did was just _that_ fucking justified. We're talking a melting pot of every goddamn bioweapon ever imagined. The way things were going though, I doubt even _Blackwatch_ knew what the fuck they made." She looked up at the ceiling, as though she was still troubled by things she had seen.

On second thought, going for a run didn't sound too bad.

I stood up suddenly. "I'm going for a run. Hopefully I'll be back before Coil's men get here. Text me if they arrive before I do."

* * *

Dana watched as the crowd kept growing. There weren't _as many_ people as there might've been, thanks to Alex stopping Leviathan before he did too much damage. But there were still lots of them. Dozens upon dozens. It would've been depressing, if she hadn't already seen _worse_. The civilians watched her and Alex warily, keeping a fair distance from either of them. Coil's men were unloading the truck, stacking them on top of a platform Alex had made from biomass to keep them out of the water.

He had wanted to speed things up by bringing the supplies out personally, but Dana and Taylor had convinced him otherwise. He was a villain; he was meant to stand there and look intimidating. Taylor herself was still in the truck, planning on making a dramatic entrance.

Looking at how skittish the crowd was, Dana was kinda worried that Taylor might scare them off instead.

On the plus side, no one had tried to take the supplies early.

Once about two hundred or more arrived, Taylor made her move.

People gasped as a black buzzing figure moved through them towards the truck. Bugs made to swarm in the shape of a person. In the shape of Swarm. The insects separated and reformed at the entrance to the truck, taking on a cloud-like shape. Blocking people's sight. Stopping them from seeing her yet.

Then the bugs scattered, startling those nearest, and Swarm was standing on the very edge of the truck. A platform, all ready and waiting for her.

She had to admit, with the bugs nearly blotting out the sun, it was _definitely_ dramatic and impressive.

"Some of you know of me!" She called out, the bugs buzzing in time with her words to create an echo effect. "I… am Swarm!"

"We've got company." Alex said, his voice carrying through a bud of biomass in her ear.

"I see her." Dana replied, eyes locked on their target. Battery, from the Protectorate, was watching the three of them from afar. But she hadn't moved closer yet. "Don't start a fight with her just yet."

"Alright. But only until she attacks first."

"I am laying claim to this area!" Swarm continued. "From now on, this territory belongs to me!" No one cheered or booed at this, but Dana saw Battery press a finger to her ear.

Time to see what the Protectorate are saying.

She tapped at her wrist. "Identify radio frequency." She ordered. Her bud made a lot of muted noise, until she heard an official sounding voice coming out of it.

"…Say again, Battery. For a moment, it sounded like you just said that Swarm's taking territory." The PRT officer said. He didn't sound worried; more like this was some kind of joke.

Asshole. Let's see him keep joking when Taylor keeps hold of this place.

"I did. Swarm has just announced her sovereign rule over this area." Battery answered. "She's going on about how she's going to be acting in the people's interests instead of her own. Talking about how she's not offering 'protection', tribute, or anything these villains usually want." Her voice lowered, as though she was worried that someone might hear her. "And Blacklight's here as her enforcer. Along with an unknown."

 _Unknown, my ass. I'm the girl who hacked your entire server, bitch._

"Blacklight? Oh shit. What's he doing?" Control asked.

"I already _told you_. He's Swarm's muscle. Here to intimidate people. Make them listen." Battery stopped talking, likely to listen to Taylor. "Hold on. Swarm's offering supplies to these people, telling everyone that she'll protect them as long as she's around."

"That's uh… That's not good. You think they might fight to keep her out of jail?"

"I don't know. I don't think they will _yet_. She'll have to prove that she means it. But they might if we give her time." Another pause. "Maybe we should let her."

" _What?!_ "

"We're having enough trouble getting resources to people, thanks to the Merchants and the Chosen. These people are in need of help, and she's offering them. _And_ she's planning on getting either group out of her area, stop them from preying on people."

"Of course she wants them gone. So then they can't challenge her rule."

"Well unless the PRT wants me to try and fight Blacklight again, there's not much I can do here."

Dana looked at Alex, saw him slightly tensed. He was probably listening in too. Hopefully Battery or command weren't stupid enough to send her against him.

But then they were distracted by someone shouting.

One of the scruffier men, the ones obviously carrying weapons and probably from the Merchants, was scaring people away, waving a large jagged knife. Behind him, his buddies were smirking, like this was a fucking show.

Alex didn't shout out a warning. He just stepped towards the man, his left arm shifting into a giant blade. The Merchant paled as he realised the vast difference between the size of their weapons.

He wasn't dumb enough to pick a fight with Alex. He dropped the knife and turned tail… and crashed right through a cloud of bugs. He screamed in a panic as they started stinging him, causing him to topple over. Dana stepped forward too, her spear growing spikes and sparking with electricity. The other Merchants backed away, leaving their fallen comrade alone.

Real honour among thieves right there.

Swarm hopped down from the truck, walked over to the Merchant. She placed one foot on top of his hand, pressed it down hard. The man howled until she hopped off, clutching his hand as she gave him space. Battery was standing right above him now.

"I can't let any of you kill this man." She said, not betraying the slightest tremor in her voice. Her costume was already glowing as she charged herself.

Tough girl. She _knew_ she couldn't take on Alex alone, and she was still ready to fight him to save a life. Dana felt a modicum of respect for her.

Of course, she could've used her time saving someone besides this scum fucker.

"Wasn't planning on it." Swarm replied, holding a hand up. Alex and Dana backed away slightly, their weapons shrinking in size. Just enough to make it clear they were backing off. Battery grabbed the fallen knife, likely to for symbolic reasons.

She glared at Swarm. "What's your angle? First the PRT and now this? What are you up to?" She asked.

"Exactly what I just said. I'm claiming territory and protecting the people living in them. Information provides money, and money buys more supplies." Taylor folded her arms. "We all know you won't try to bring us in. Not just because you'd lose, but because we're the lesser threat right now. You've got too much else to deal with to bother with us, not when we're helping too."

"I wouldn't call Blacklight a 'lesser threat'. But you're partly right. 'The enemy of my enemy' and all that." She glowered at them. "But the moment you guys cross a line, the moment you go too far? We'll bring the full might of the PRT and Protectorate, and we'll bring _all_ of you in. Even you, Blacklight."

Alex shrugged. "You can _try_. You'll fail, obviously. But I'll be ready for when you're dumb enough to disturb me."

Battery didn't have a reply for that. She just ran off, heading back to the PRT. Taylor turned back to the crowd, and addressed them again. There weren't enough supplies for everyone. So she was sorting something out; a way to make sure those who missed out now could still get something.

Dana was impressed and concerned by how organised Taylor was. She was pushing herself pretty hard, like it would help Noelle and Dinah if she moved faster and harder than everyone else. Alex was grabbing the Merchant, pulling him up and pushing him away, sending him stumbling back home. Hopefully, the knowledge that he was here might scare off the Merchants.

But what she _really_ wanted was for Alex to take over and clean them up. Get rid of the Merchants and make their turf a safe place. But she wasn't sure how to convince him.

The crowd dispersed, both of those who had supplies and those who didn't. Alex and Dana stepped closer to the walls, letting the people pass. This continued until only one other person remained. She had red dreadlocks and pale skin, eyes twitching like she was high or something.

Dana frowned, and engaged her vision. Nope, no signs of drugs. Probably just nervous as _fuck_.

"Yes?" Taylor asked her. "You've already gotten your ladybugs. I'll bring you something as soon as I get more in."

"It's… It's not that." The girl said nervously. "I… You said that you would protect us, right? Did you… Did you _mean_ it? You'll protect us?"

"Of course I did. I meant every word."

"So… Does that mean that you'll go up against the other groups too?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I… I need your help."

* * *

The girl – Sierra – told us how her brother had been kidnapped by the Merchants. They had been taking shelter at a church, and then the Merchants attacked one night. They had thrown a Molotov in, started burning the place down, attacking people they found. Grabbed a few people, Bryce one of them. They didn't grab many supplies; I think they just attacked the church because they _could_.

Apparently, it was enough for Alex. He agreed instantly to go to the Merchants and find Bryce. I wondered if he would take over, like Dana and Coil wanted him to. I suppose that I'll just have to wait and see what happens.

I contacted Lisa for help. She agreed to join us, bringing some mercenaries with her.

Dana wasn't allowed to join. Alex's direct orders. And we needed someone keeping an eye out on my territory. She had begrudgingly agreed.

So now here we were, not far from the Merchants' base of operations. Two girls and five guys. We were an odd looking group, thanks to Alex.

"So what's our cover?" I asked Lisa. It felt odd, going out of costume. I had been so used to heading into trouble with my suit on that I didn't know what to do without it. It made me feel a bit… vulnerable. Naked.

And of course Alex didn't really need his uniform to be unstoppable.

"Simple. We blend in." Lisa said, wrapping an arm around one of her men's waist. He was a head taller than her, looked a lot older too. "Couples. Nobody's going to look twice at us. You'll be partnered up with Senegal."

One of her men, Brooks the medic, frowned. "Unless you two are going to have multiple boyfriends, this isn't going to work out."

He barely finished before Alex started changing. His body turned into a large human-shaped blob, startling the mercenaries. Then the blob separated, pulling away until _two_ human-shaped blobs stood before us. Tendrils moved along the surface, and two beautiful women stood in their place. One had dark skin and black hair, bright green eyes staring at us. The other was white, yellow hair hanging low and the tips blue. Both were curvy, and both were dressed in tattered clothes.

"Quit your bitching." The blond one said, grabbing Jaw and wrapping his arm around her waist. The other girl grabbed hold of Brooks. I noticed how he squirmed, trying to pull away from her.

I'd be doing the same if _I_ had to have Alex near me after that display.

"Stow it, Brooks." The team captain, Minor, ordered. "At least now we'll blend in. Just shut up and deal with it."

"But…" Minor glared. "Yes captain." Brooks answered. He stopped pulling away, and placed a hand against Alex's ass.

"We'll need names." Lisa said. "We can't call you both Alex now, can we?"

"Trace." The blond one said.

"Samantha." The dark one said one second after.

See, that? That just felt _wrong_. If someone asked me to explain it, I don't think I could. But I could just tell that there was something… off about the two of them. Just like if you looked at a computer-generated image. It _looks_ right, but there's just something about it that didn't feel right.

Funny, how Alex felt more normal-like when he was _one_ person.

I wanted to talk to him about trying something else – maybe _one_ girl with two boyfriends – but we had reached the Merchant's base.

Weymouth shopping centre. To think that somewhere I used to go all the time had fallen so far. A massive crowd was standing near the entrance, pushing and shoving each other as they went inside.

It took a while for us to finally get to the door. A large, tattooed, muscular and very mean doorman was standing guard. Most he let in without a hassle. Some he groped their girls before letting them pass. One – probably a Chosen or undercover PRT – he smashed in the face and kicked away. I felt nervous, seeing the casual violence.

Yes, Alex was all about casual violence. But there was something different seeing it in a normal person.

The man glanced at Lisa and Minor, saw the coloured armbands they were wearing. According to her, those bands represented different events. The more you have, the more events you've been to, and therefore how loyal you are to the Merchants.

"They're all with us." Lisa said to him, pointing a thumb back at the rest of us. The man waved me and Senegal through, waved Jaw and Trace through, but leered as he spotted Sam and Brooks.

"Hold on." He said, holding his arm before them. "Doorman toll. Need just a few minutes with ya girl." He reached out for her, only for Brooks to get in front of her.

"Fuck off, asshole. You ain't touching her." He said fiercely. The doorman just laughed at him. I'm not surprised. Brooks was a slender, wiry thing. The doorman was a head taller, and twice as wide. Without special training, Brooks wouldn't even be able to hurt him.

The man opened his eyes again just in time to see Sam throw a punch.

From what I've already seen of Alex, he can hit far harder than normal people. Maybe not on Alexandria's levels, or Behemoth. Maybe. But still hard enough to kill a man with a single blow.

And as expected, the doorman was felled with that single punch. He didn't even have time to make a noise before he fell to the ground. The other doorman kept far away from her.

Any fears Lisa might've had of people thinking we might be easy targets went out the window at that.

Inside was a goddamn nightmare. Everyone was so pressed together than it was almost suffocating. The air was thick with the smell of sweat, urine, and garbage. Lice were spreading through the crowd, moving like wildfire as everyone bumped shoulders. On a stand not far from us, men and women were stuck inside a cage, guarded by a Merchant. I wasn't sure if they were whores, or slaves. A big part of me _hoped_ they were the latter. Someone tried to sell us some 'product', but a glare from Sam made him back off. Everyone was selling something in here; selling drugs, selling guns, selling their bodies or others… One big swirling mess, sucking everyone and everything in like a whirlpool.

"No wonder Dana wants me to clean this place up." Trace said to me. We weren't in any danger of being overheard; _I_ could barely hear her in the noisy crowd, speakers clashing. "It's fucking disgusting. The worst of humanity all shoved into a room and left to fester. I hate it." She pointed her head towards the far end of the mall. "And I fucking hate that shithead."

Skidmark. Standing on top of a rickety stand held aloft more by Tinker powers than any sound structural support. He was watching everyone party, a nasty smirk on his face. This was all his work. He found these people, gave them the drugs they wanted to end the pain. And then he used them to build more power, find more people, menace more innocents.

I wasn't going to shed tears when Alex got close to him.

But then we had to stop, as a brawl started up before us. And past them, we spotted an exhibition.

A clothing store window, now shattered and ruined. Three women and a girl were standing there, acting provocatively. The men below would throw clothes at them, and they would openly dress and undress for them, trying on the clothes. Well, the women were moving provocatively; the girl seemed almost paralysed with fear.

I wasn't surprised. There was no sign that she was here willingly. These men had abducted her just to for her to strip for their amusement. And it would only be a matter of time before someone decided to go the next step.

I was coming up with a plan to help her, when I saw Trace walk towards her. Someone passed between them, and a large grubby man took her place.

"You just can't wait until you take over to help her, can you?" Lisa said to Sam.

"No." She replied simply. Then she turned to Minor. "Trace will grab the girl and head back towards us. I want you to punch her in the face and grab the girl."

"That'll just make them go after us instead of her." Lisa pointed out. "You can't… punching the guy who took her isn't going to make everyone leave us alone." Sam frowned. Guess she hadn't thought further ahead. Alex was too used to just fighting his way to whatever he wants.

"I've got an idea." Minor said. The crowd grew louder, and the girl screamed as Trace grabbed her. They tried to stop them, but Trace just pounded everyone who got close. People were backing away, but I could tell that Trace wasn't getting back to us without everyone wanting to still pound his face in.

Minor surged forward and punched Trace in the head, grabbing the girl with his other hand. Trace fell to the ground, and everyone started wailing in on him. Minor moved to throw something, but he didn't need to. Everyone was focused on Trace, on pounding him to death. We quietly backed away before anyone remembered about us.

We made some distance from there, the girl still fighting to break free. Any Merchants we passed just laughed, made some lewd comments. We made it over to some bathrooms when Trace appeared next to us again. I'm not sure how she managed to get away.

"You're safe." Trace and Sam said at once. "Stay near us, and you'll be safe."

The girl shivered in fear. "But… But that… that man…"

"A disguise. Now shut up. We're looking for someone."

Lisa nodded. "Guys, go and look for him. Sam and Trace can keep watch for us." The mercs nodded, headed out of the bathroom. The girl looked at the four of us, face frozen in shock and puzzlement.

"But… but… why… Why did you…?" Poor girl couldn't get the words out properly. Trace rolled her eyes.

"You were in trouble, and I helped you. Now either you can stay and shut up, or leave. As long as you don't run right back into their arms, I don't care anymore."

Lisa grinned. "Someone's getting embarrassed." She said in a sing-song voice. Trace flushed red, and looked away.

The girl gave a nervous smile, and looked away from trace. Her eyes locked on me. And she froze.

"You." She said softly. "I… I know you."

I stared at her in shock. "What?"

"Yeah. I remember you. You went to Winslow High. You were that locker girl. The one who got shut up with all that nasty stuff they had to cart with biohazard bags. You went all mental, and they had to bring in cops to get you out, and then…"

I wanted to tell her to shut up. I wanted to scream at her, to get her to stop talking about the incident. She was probably one of the people in the crowd. The people who saw it happen and didn't do shit about it. But her rambling was interrupted by Trace slamming a fist into the wall. It went through it, and I saw spikes sticking out of places. A grimace was marring her face.

"You knew about that, did you?" she hissed. Her voice didn't even sound human anymore. "You heard about her 'episode'? Then why the fucking hell didn't you _do_ anything about it?" She was almost shouting now, teeth lengthening into fangs. The girl backed away, shaking like a leaf. A small puddle formed between her legs.

As pissed as I was at her, at how she didn't do shit to help me, I couldn't let her die. I moved between her and Alex.

"Remember what I said at school?" I said evenly to him, looking him in the eye. "You were to stay out of my life. Let _me_ deal with my shit." Alex hissed, but backed off. Trace's features returned back to normal. She looked like a normal pissed of lady now.

We would've been left in awkward silence if Brooks and Minor hadn't returned.

"We found him." Minor said. Lisa nodded, and we moved to follow him. I looked back though, and the girl was still pressed up against the wall.

"Come on." I said to her. She didn't respond. She didn't move. Now I understood what people meant by 'frozen in fear'. "Come _on_." I said more firmly. Still she didn't move. "If you don't come with us, you'll just get captured again."

That worked. She jolted forward and hurried after me, nearly stepping on my heels in an effort to keep close.

I damn well hoped that Bryce was going to be easier than this.

* * *

He was, and he wasn't.

The good news: there weren't any guards to deal with. Just Bryce, and some girl with bleached hair.

The bad news; no guards. So Bryce wasn't being held here against his will.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sam and Trace said as one. I think I understood them a little better now. When they were thinking the same thing, when they were both Alex, they acted as one. Otherwise, they were two different people. "This little shit is _one of them_?"

Lisa turned to me. "Want me to do that talking?"

"Please." I didn't want Sierra or Bryce linking me to Swarm. And I think Alex was more interested in beating the shit out of him than talking.

Lisa smiled as turned towards Bryce. "So, looking good for someone who's being held against their will. What happened, Brycie? You joined the Merchants while your sister was trying to look after you? Told them of some juicy place so you could get into their little gang?"

"Not what happened." Bryce replied, looking at our group angrily. "Now how about you lot all just _piss off_?"

He stopped being so macho and angry when Sam and Trace leaned in. they both broke a part of the wood bench he was sitting on with their hands. Bryce's girlfriend decided quickly to find somewhere else to be.

"You little fucker. Your sister's worried sick about you, and here you are slumming it up with the biggest shitheads in Brockton Bay?" they said as one. I watched as Bryce tried to choose who to glare at. But his anger was tempered by fear.

"Alex. Let the people person do the talking." Lisa said, tugging on their shoulders. I doubted even Jaw would have the strength to budge Alex, but they both moved away and settled for glaring from a distance. I watched as some idiot tried to cop a feel, and Sam ripped his hand clean off.

Bryce saw it too. "Look, my life has sucked ever since Leviathan showed up. My house got flattened by that Endbringer Killer thing, I'm stuck living with two families in a tight hole, and I've been given more chores than I've ever had to deal with in my _life_. Then I get sick, Sierra finds some lame-ass church, and I'm _still_ stuck doing chores and shit, like it's a good thing. So I thought 'fuck that', and when the Merchants showed up I left with them. Gotta be fucking better than doing what other people tell you to do, like you should be fucking honoured that they're looking after you."

"…Right. If Sierra asks, the Merchants killed him for fun." Sam and Trace said, moving forward.

"No." I said firmly. "I told her I'd bring her brother back, and you _swore_ you'd help. Are you going back on your fucking word? How would Dana feel if she learnt about this?"

Sam and Trace groaned. "You use the Dana card way too many fucking times. Fine. We'll bring the little shit back. But only _after_ I fuck this place over."

"Deal." I knew the moment we got here that he would do that. "But we've also got to find the man who led the attack. Sierra wants him to pay."

Sam nodded. "Then lead the way." Just then though, a microphone squealed. Skidmark stepped forward on his 'stage', drawing everyone's attention. Behind him was about half a dozen other capes.

More than he had before Leviathan. More than I thought were still unaffiliated.

"Alright, sisterfuckers!" He shouted into the microphone. "Time to get down and dirty! It's Blood Night!" He pointed his hand at the centre of the mall, the ground changing colour as he focused and layered his power. Those who were stuck in the middle of the edges were trapped inside the circle; those outside it jeered at them and threw things at them. I saw someone fall as they were struck by a large stone, blood flowing from a head wound. Someone near him started stomping him into the ground. "The rules are simple; there _are_ no fucking rules. Pile on someone, betray your friends, wait until the last moment, I don't fucking care. All I care about is that we have five people still standing when we're done. Go nuts. Fuck someone over." He gave a toothy grin; even from where I was, I could see how bad his teeth still were. "And speaking of fucking, those five are going to get some choice cuts. The girls they want and all the time in the world with them; the purest shit we've got. And a special bonus I've got just for tonight." He lifted up a case sitting near him, holding it aloft for everyone to see. He opened it, and pulled out a canister of some kind. A strange liquid sloshed about inside of it. "Here's the greatest fucking prize this shit ball of a city ever gave us."

"Powers in a can!"

* * *

"What did he just say?" Taylor asked in surprise. "Did he just say powers in a can? Is he actually serious?"

"Sounds like it." Trace said. Alex was _very_ intrigued. Both by what the contents of those cans were, _and_ how some shithead like Skidmark got his hands on them. Probably found them, the way he was talking.

Of course, the left the question of who made the powers.

He was already thinking of just jumping up to Skidmark and killing him when spotted familiar faces in the melee. He had to stop and see _where_ he knew them from. He hadn't seen them before, but they still were familiar… Someone had described them to him?

Sierra. Sierra had described them to him. They were the people who had attacked the church, gave the priest a new asshole.

"Found our secondary targets." Trace said, closer to the centre of the group. Closer to Taylor. "Moving in to fight them. Keep a hand on the kid, and move well back from me. Things are going to get messy."

Taylor nodded. Minor and Jaws adjusted their grip on Bryce – the little shit – and held him close. Trace pushed out of the group towards Sam, both of them melding back together again into Alex. He didn't have to worry about someone watching him; there was too much going on for anyone to see anything.

With every step he took further into the crowd, the more disgusted he was by humanity.

Sure, it wasn't perfect to begin with. Too much lying, too much backstabbing and greed and bigotry. People always trying to find some reason to hate others, to discriminate and hurt them. Willing to screw others over for just about anything. But there were good people too; people who wanted to fix the world, get rid of the bad. Get rid of things like him.

The only reason these people would want to be rid of things like him is because they'd stop their rampage for power. Or they'd try and use him for their own fucking desires.

When he reached the ring, when he was pushed by Skidmark's power into the center, he didn't bother with any grand plan or showmanship. He just wanted to make those assholes hurt before they die. He walked up to them and shoved his hand through the first guy's chest, his fingers extending into the others. They all screamed in pain and agony as he lifted them up, his finger spikes jutting high above. People backed away in fear and surprise as he armoured up, the feelers on his spikes ripping into them and splattering blood. All he'd have to do now was…

The shard in his head stabbed him like a railroad spike.

He was somewhere else, seeing a million different things at once. Broken images, something big, something _wrong_. So many of them, layered upon each other, doing similar things. But they _weren't_ similar. Just different enough to be out of sync.

And then they vanished. All of them. All he could see now was worlds. Worlds stained red, worlds that were grey. A world hidden behind red clouds, something tugging at him. Worlds with different shapes and continents, worlds that hurt his head.

And then it was all over. He felt his body again, felt how it had started falling apart on him. Reaching out for nourishment. He pulled it back in, lowered his empty hand. He had consumed the assholes he had been killing.

The crowd backed away from him, leaving a frightened boy behind. His hands were glowing, and he'd jump when they fired white circles around him.

Son of a bitch. _That's_ how he had so many capes. Skidmark was forcing Trigger Events with these 'events'. Sacrificing people until someone broke and gained powers. Alex looked up at Skidmark in anger, only to see him stumbling over and laughing. Confused, Alex looked back at Taylor and Lisa, saw _them_ stumbling too. Brooks and the girl had to hold them up.

Huh. Guess he wasn't the _only_ one affected. The only one to have seen that… whatever the fuck it was.

"Well, well." Skidmark said into his microphone. Alex turned back to see him leering at him. "Look at who was brain fucked enough to think he could come into _my_ place like he fucking owns it. Blacklight him- _fucking_ -self. I've been looking forward to this for a _long_ while, you maggot-breath shitlover."

Alex resisted the urge to groan in exasperation. Skidmark's rise in power had given him an inflated ego, made him think he was the toughest thing around. Add in the fact that he was probably picking away at the memory of Alex humiliating him like a scab, and he was likely determined to try and kill Alex.

Well, he was already planning on killing him. But it would be tedious fighting through whatever the dickhead threw at him.

"That's right, Blacklight. I still remember how you _humiliated_ me during that meeting. How you and Kaiser talked down to me like I was _nobody_. Well look around you, assfuck. Kaiser is dead. His 'Empire' is a fucking crater now. And I'm on top of the world." He loomed over the bannister before him. "I'm going to break you, pal. I'm going to turn you into my fucking _bitch_." He turned to the crowd now. "Change of plans, folks. I'm offering these powers, the best of the best, _and_ a hundred thousand bucks to whoever takes this fucker down."

Wait. What?

Does… Does he _seriously_ think that the crowd could beat him?

Alex didn't fight the urge this time. He just started laughing, even as the crowd charged for him. They smashed their weapons and fists against him, dogpiling him and trying to pull him down. He heard their weapons break, their hand shatter against his armour, their bullets pinging off.

He let them try for another second before slamming both fists into the ground. Everyone within three feet of him was thrown upwards, landing in a ragdoll heap. All dead from the concussive force. He then lashed out with his whipfist, swinging it around himself and extending it as it moved. The blades slashed through everyone in range; the body smashed those it missed. He cleared about five metres of space around himself.

Only took him two attacks to clear some space. The crowd was smart enough to back away. Alex took the time to consume the fallen, drawing them inwards. He saw the look of fear on everyone's face.

He didn't bother giving Skidmark time to humiliate himself again, as fun as it was. He lashed out with several large tendrils, each with enough biomass to lift themselves and whatever they held. Each of them drove a spike into Skidmark, lifting him screaming into the air. Then they pulled away from each other, pulling at Skidmark as they did so.

In only a few tugs, they ripped him apart. His blood splattered all over his girlfriend. Alex drew him in, adding his disgusting memories to his mind.

The circle around him faded, its creator dead.

Squealer dabbed at the blood, and screamed.

"Kill him!" She shrieked at the other capes. "Fuck him over, make him bleed, rip him to shreds! I want his fucking _corpse_!" She was probably going to say more, but Alex got tired of her. He teleported up to her, and ripped her head off.

And then the other capes converged on him, and all hell broke loose.

Mush – a shifter who can gain size and mass from debris around him – charged in first, almost twice his normal size. Idiot probably thought that bigger meant better. Alex fired a Devastator through his chest, leaving a sizable hole in him. He fell apart, blood splattering the ground. The next cape to approach, a girl Skidmark had called Whirlygig, had all kind of junk orbiting her. The remains of Mush's form joined the tornado around her. On the other side of him was Trainwreck. Alex had seen him in Coil's base before. Coil liked to think of himself as a chessmaster; Trainwreck was probably a spy or something.

He muscled up his arms and slammed them into Trainwreck, firing a blast of air through them as he landed the blow. Trainwreck went sailing. Enough to likely get him out of the fight, to give him an excuse to just run back to Coil. Meanwhile, the girl had gotten closer. Close enough that her storm was buffeting Alex, smacking him over and over with debris. Annoying, but hardly a threat. Alex created two shields and pushed through the storm, smacking Whirlygig aside with them. She hit the railing, her back breaking on impact. He grabbed her and consumed her.

His head started aching. Too many shards, gaining them too quickly. Will have to fix that after this. In the meantime, he moved the shards to heads he formed around his waist. Should allow him to hold them without worrying about losing them.

Three more capes still remained. The first was some idiot with a huge rubber belt on. Looked like a goddamned clown. Bumper. That was his name. His power… Alex punched him as he got close. When he struck the railing, he just bounced off back towards Alex. Right. Kinetic absorption. Someone hits him, he simply bounces around, absorbing kinetic energy until he released it.

Bumper rebounded towards Alex, and Alex created a spike from his chest. Bumper skewered himself against it, but knocked Alex flying.

Well, he _did_ hit him pretty hard.

Alex smashed feet first against a wall, pushed off from it back towards the centre stage. The crowd below watched them all. The Merchants to see their bosses win; the victims to see them all die.

Alex aimed for the second remaining Merchant. A large, tough looking guy. Pitfall. His power was creating a hole on any surface, and filling it back up. Have someone stumble into his hole, and then bury them alive. Useful, but Alex doubted he'd be fighting people who would die from something like that. The man swerved at the last second like a matador baiting a bull, a hole appearing in the wall behind him. Everything went dark as Alex was buried inside of it.

 _I'll_ _take it under advisement_. Alex thought as he smashed through the sealed wall, claws ripping into Pitfall. That just left Roly Poly. Powers…

Roll up into a hardened ball. And bounce. That was it.

Alex smashed him flat with his hammerfists. Blood exploded outwards. He looked up, having spotted people on the roof as he had been sailing towards Pitfall. Faultline and her crew. Were they here to kill Skidmark? Or something else?

Down below, the Merchants decided to run.

Alex teleported to the exits, creating a wall of hardened biomass when he got there. He managed to pen everyone else in before they could all escape.

Skidmark's memories told him all about the kind of scum he had living here.

He teleported back to the stage, and grabbed the fallen microphone. "Attention, Merchants." He called out, his voice booming through the mic. "In case it isn't brutally obvious, I'm taking over your territory."

The crowd was silent below. They were afraid. After all, he killed all their capes and now had them locked in. They probably saw him consume people.

They're probably thinking he's turning them into a buffet.

"Everyone brought here against their will? You're free to leave. Go home, or go to the shelters. I don't fucking care." He spotted Taylor in the crowd. She was giving him a reproachful look. "to those of you staying, let me make this clear; all this shit ends now. You live in _my_ territory? You obey _my_ rules. You don't prey on others, you don't sell drugs, you don't steal from others. Don't like it? Leave. I'll kill anyone I find breaking my rules. But know this; there's no place for you shitheads anymore. Most of the city belongs to the Undersiders and Coil. They won't take this shit either. The Protectorate? They'll arrest you on sight. The Chosen? If you're not white, you're fucked. Get it? There's no territory left in the city for you to do whatever the fuck you want." He glanced at Taylor. She was nodding. "For those of you who _want_ to stay and be under my protection, group up near the center of the building. Everyone else?" The biomass walls opened, changing into gates. "Out. Now."

People kept standing still. Some of the crowd was glaring at him, angry that he had spoiled their fun. But then a lot of people – over half of them – turned towards the gates. They streamed out in droves, a mass flood of people, slaves, and degenerates. While they did that, he created little beasts of biomass. Scurrying things with pincers and stingers and fangs. Simple creatures with only one objective.

Find the people on the list he had given them. Hunt them down. Kill them.

"And those of you who were real scumbags? The worst of the worst, the fucking psychos and monsters?" People turned back towards him, those he listed gripping weapons. He glared back at them. "There's no fucking way I'm letting you lot leave. Not after what you'd done."

And then his beasts found them, and people started screaming.

Those on the list were overwhelmed, screaming in pain as they tried to fight back. Those around them backed away, screaming in fear as they tried to get away from the killings. The beasts were quick and brutal. Slashed throats and stabbed hearts, before scurrying after the next one. Plenty made it outside; they chased after their scent, moving faster than any human.

There will be survivors, of course. Not all of them had been here. But he was certain that he got most of them.

He heard Newter drop down not far from him. The floor near him bulged upwards into poles, the rest of Faultline's crew sliding down them. But instead of Spitfire, a red-haired woman was with them. He didn't recognise her. And he didn't care right now.

He turned to face them. "Faultline. The fact that you're sticking around means that you've still got a job to do."

She nodded. "The powers. I want them." She said.

Ah. The powers in a can. He shook his head. "I want those powers myself. I'm interested in where they came from, and what they can do for me." He saw Faultline tense under her costume. Not surprising. She just saw him kill of an entire crew of capes. He doubted that their odds were any better. Newter might be a problem – he didn't know how his physiology would handle his narcotics – but a ranged attack would take him out easily enough.

Faultline glanced at the case. "What about the paperwork?" she asked. "If we let you keep the vials, will you let us have the papers that came with it?"

He stopped, before reaching out for the case. Opening it, he found the vials resting on top of some documents. He looked through Skidmark's memories for them. The man had glanced at them, long enough to remember them, but he hadn't paid any attention to them.

But Alex could learn a lot from those memories.

"Is this what your client's interested in? Just seeing who made them?"

" _I'm_ interested in them." She said firmly.

"Personal interest." He glanced at Newter and Gregor. He understood now. "You think these vials are what made the Case 53s?"

"We _know_ they did."

Alex shrugged, pulled out the vials and handed the case over. "Alright then. They're all yours."

Faultline nodded as she grabbed the case off him. "Pleasure doing business, Blacklight." And then they walked out the front doors, Newter moving back to the roof. Likely grabbing Labyrinth. He had detected her on the rooftop. The changes she made vanished, leaving him with a ruined mall and a large crowd of people.

He cricked his neck. He was going to be busy tonight.

* * *

When Petra woke up to her alarm blaring, it felt like she had barely gotten to sleep.

And yet, at the same time, it felt like she had slept for hours.

She was still getting used to the duality. The gene had given them incredible levels of stamina and endurance. The computers had clocked them going nearly seventy miles an hour, completing one hundred laps, without any signs of fatigue. Because of that, she could sleep for only two hours, and wake up feeling completely refreshed.

She wasn't sure if they actually _needed_ sleep. Maybe they could stay awake forever, just keep on working.

That said, some old habits still lingered. When she pulled away at the sheets, she stretched out her muscles before heading to the bathroom. There was no shower or bath in there, or even so much as a toilet. The gene dealt with all the nasty business for them. All she had was a sink to wash up in. She grabbed a flannelette and started washing her face. Getting rid of dirt, grime, sleeping dust. It was the closest she could get to a shower. Her hand blindly reached out for her toothbrush, only to find nothing. Right. The gene kept her teeth healthy and clean. She sighed. Another old habit biting the dust. She threw aside the cloth and headed back into her room, moving to the dresser they gave her.

Yes, she was stuck wearing a skintight uniform so tight it was almost indecent. But she refused to walk around base without something else over it.

She headed out of her room wearing some gym shorts and a singlet, the lighter material standing out against the black suit. She and her team had this part of the PRT headquarters all to themselves; a quarantine, to keep them away from others. Multiple defences and security measures in case of an outbreak.

It hurt, on some level. To be considered nothing more than an outbreak waiting to happen. It made her wonder what would happen to her team if or _when_ they kill Blacklight.

She headed towards the terminal, logged in the latest thing she had noticed. Things like whether her breathing had changed, if she could see better or worse, if there were any aches or pains. Anything they noticed was logged in, a way for people like Ragland and Dragon to get a better understanding on how the gene was integrating into their bodies. Once she did that, she checked up on the files of her team. How they were coping.

Damian was doing alright. Still making jokes, still cracking wiseass remarks. The lack of any sex though, combined with her and Kim's suits, led to him making more dirty remarks. Kim had already bashed him for things he had said. She made a note to ask him to tone things down a little. With their new kind of power, a bit of roughhousing could be worse than normal.

Kim herself was… well, a bitch at times. She got that she was trying to act tough to make up for the fact that she looked like she was still in school, but she went way too far. Any comment made to her was like walking on egg shells, trying to find something to say without pissing her off in the process. And she kept trying to be the first one in, ignoring defence over speed and ferocity. They had to work on controlling that; someone like Blacklight wouldn't hesitate to take advantage of any slip-up.

Francis was doing alright. Had gotten closer to Damian, joined him in a comedy routine. She liked the guy; he was a good soldier. Always followed orders, but wasn't afraid to improvise when it was needed. Easy on the eyes too. She wouldn't have minded jumping into bed with him if they were prohibited from doing so.

Grey though… He was a tough one. His file _looked_ normal enough. Was stationed in New York once. Had a somewhat quiet time there. Then got transferred to Project Blacklight. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But she had been watching him work. The single-mindedness, the drive, the lack of concern about his own safety… she's seen that before. In officers who saw something that broke them.

And those kinds of guys only lasted so long before they crashed and burned. Sometimes, they took the team with them.

She tapped at the mic button. "Computer. Locate Grey." The screen showed a map of the complex, the different agents in different places. Kim was still in her room; Damian and Fort were in the entertainment room. Grey was in training room Alpha.

Just like always.

She found him in the middle of a training session, surrounded by holographic targets. His fists and feet flew like bullets, smashing through the targets one after another. He spun round on the spot, limbs still moving quickly. An entire row of targets flashed red as they registered the blows. Then the quickly moved after the final ones, all moving erratically away from him. It took several more seconds to chase them all down.

When the clock stopped, he had clocked in at thirty-three seconds. Most officers would've been pleased with a time like that.

Grey simply started up the program again, and tried again.

She let him finish it before she stopped the whole thing. He looked around in confusion, before turning towards her.

"Captain." He said, saluting her.

"We're not on duty, Grey. You don't need to use my rank." She said to him, walking into the room. Grey didn't relax though.

"We're _always_ on duty, Captain. Project Blacklight doesn't have off duty times." He responded. "We could be called on at any time to engage Blacklight in battle. Any time spent not training is time wasted." He engaged the training again, and started working again.

She stopped it again, and he turned back to her.

"We need to talk, Grey." She said firmly. She moved to the bench along the wall, and signalled for him to sit near her. He kept standing though, so she just got into it. "I'm been reading the notes about your time here, and I'm starting to get worried about you."

"No need, Captain. My body is at peak capabilities, even before the gene. I will be ready to fight Blacklight when called for."

"I know that. It's not your _physical health_ I'm worried about." The gene meant that they would _always_ be at peak physical capability. "I'm worried about what's going on up _there_." She tapped her own head.

He tensed up. "There's nothing to worry about, Captain…"

"Bullshit." She interrupted. "I've seen guys like you before. You act like you're some tool because you've seen some scary shit. You don't give a damn about your team, or yourself. Only completing the mission." She gave him a hard look. "And considering that a big enough slash to our suits will kill us, I don't like that kind of thinking."

"So what, you're going to assign me a therapist? I'm _not_ broken, Captain." She sighed. Damn macho ass. He wouldn't admit that he's weak, that he needs help. Guys like him never did. They were so damn certain that they were the toughest thing…

An idea came to her.

"Alright then, Grey. How about this? We have ourselves a match. You beat me, I'll do whatever you want for the next twenty-four hours we spend in our base. But I win, then we talk. You explain what the hell happened to you; and we try to help you through it."

Grey just glowered at her. "Not interested, Captain. Fraternisation between teammates is frowned upon." And he turned to walk away.

She shrugged. "Alright then. I guess you're just too chicken-shit to think you could beat a little girl. I'm sure nobody would think bad of you if they heard you ran from a fight." Grey stopped walking away. Turned back to her. She had taken off her outer clothes, leaving her standing in her suit.

Grey moved into a fighting stance.

They watched each other carefully, waiting to see who would attack first.

Then they charged each other.

She had to admit, Grey was good. She had a few black belt wins, and he was _still_ matching up to her. They both traded blows at blinding speed, their limbs moving fast enough that normally they would've broken the tendons. They went through choke holds, grapples, breaks, and moved back to trading blows again. Grey grabbed her in a bear hug, but she slammed her fists together on his head, forcing him to drop her. She then lashed out with her leg, driving it into his side. He twisted with the blow, using the force and momentum to drive his fist into her side. She went flying, and by the time she bounced back to her feet he was right in her face again.

She was stuck on the defensive now.

She blocked his next blows, the force behind them causing her to step back. The longer she let him continue unabated, the further he could push her. So she ducked under his next blow, ploughing into his midsection. He didn't budge as much as she liked, but she spun around him until she was pressed up against his back. She drove her elbow into his spine, sent him stumbling. While he did that, she turned and started pummelling him. When he turned around, arms held up defensively, she kicked out at his leg before punching him in the midsection again.

She stumbled back as he punched her in the face, her nose cracking audibly. He slugged her in the chest three times, pushing her back and cracking some ribs. She fell to a heap before him. He stood over her, silent and glowering.

Before he went for the final blow, she kicked out at his leg, aiming for the knee. She heard it break, saw him fall. She rolled over onto it, and started wailing on him. She only stopped when the suit started beeping.

She fell off him, lying down next to him. Already she could feel the gene healing her body. It took a few more seconds, but she could get back up without something throbbing. She headed over to a stand with a wet towel, and wiped at her face. It came away red.

Grey sat down on the seat next to her, his suit glowing orange. "You did good, Captain." He rumbled. "I can see why Piggot and Armsmaster put you in charge of us."

She groaned as she stretched. Even with advanced healing, the kind of training they went through could still be painful. "Yeah. Figured that was one of the reasons." She sat down, pressing her hands against her back. "Well, we had a deal. I won, you talk. So talk."

Grey looked away from her. "You've seen my record?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah. I saw everyone's. Looked pretty normal to me." She paused. " _Too_ normal. Even _I_ wouldn't say that I had a quiet time on the force."

"Not surprising. Things… Things weren't as good as my branch wanted others to think."

"The New York branch _lied_? What the hell happened?"

Grey seemed to be chewing at something, face getting tight. "Slaughterhouse Nine." He answered.

Oh.

Oh god.

"My team was the first ones on sight. We didn't know it was _all_ of them when we arrived; all we had heard was that some sick bastards were killing people. They weren't kidding; when we arrived, the walls were covered in blood. Had to walk through half a dozen bodies before we sighted our first target." He paused. "Bonesaw."

Bonesaw. She had heard of _her_. Everyone's heard of the Nine by now. Bonesaw _looked_ like a cute little kid. She actually could've been one too. But she had the mind of a goddamn psycho. A real mad scientist type. A biological Tinker, she loved taking people apart and putting them back together again, usually with something _horribly_ wrong with them. Stuff that made it clear they weren't human anymore.

"She was standing over a body, stabbing it over and over again with her knife. Well, my team wasn't taking any chances. Not with how much blood covered her. We opened fire; live rounds. Blew enough holes in her to make her fall apart. Another pause. "Then we got ambushed. The little sick freak had been hiding in the bodies, wearing one of the bodies like a suit. Stabbed one of my guys before we even knew what was happening. Then Crimson came smashing through the wall with his massive sword. Killed two more before the rubble finished falling. And then Siberian came along, Jack Slash, Winter…" he paused again, face tense. "Well, we knew we were fucked. Those of us still alive, we ran like hell. I was the only one to make it out. Everyone else got grabbed by _something_." He took a deep breath. "Alexandria showed up with the Protectorate. When they saw Siberian stepping out, most of them only stuck around long enough to grab me and get the hell out of there."

Shit. Way to bring up all those bad memories, Petra.

He turned to look at her. "I'll admit that I focus on only the mission because it helps calm me. But I'm not going to act suicidal. I'll protect my own. You don't have to worry about that."

She nodded dumbly. "I… Good. That's… that's all I wanted to hear." There was an awkward silence between them now.

She was so thankful when the intercom tone filled the room. "Captain Sanderson and Lieutenant Grey. Please report to the mission room. Repeat, please report to the mission room. Thank you."

She sighed in relief. "Come on, Grey. Looks like Piggot has something for us. Better go and see what's going on."

Grey stood up. "I hope it's fighting Blacklight. The sooner we deal with him, the sooner Piggot will let us go after bigger targets. I heard that the Nine are heading this way."

She gave him a look. "Don't act stupid around them."

"I won't. I've seen what that looks like."

They moved double time to make it to the mission room quickly. Inside, Piggot was already glowering. Armsmaster was pacing as he waited. Damian saw her and Grey come in, and made little kissing motions to his wrist.

She replied with the finger.

"Captain." Piggot reprimanded her. "This is _not_ the time for jokes. We have important intel that we've only just received."

"Yes, Director." She said hurriedly, sitting down. "Is it about Blacklight, ma'am?"

"What else would it be about? Of course it's Blacklight." She seemed shorter than normal, more temperamental. Whatever she was telling them, it probably wasn't good. "We tried to get one of our agents inside the Merchants, inform us on their plans and what they've been doing in there. He got turned away, but he came back in time to see everything going to hell in there."

Petra cleared her throat. "With all due respect, Director, but from the intel we've _already_ received, I thought it had always gone to hell."

"Not like this. Blacklight got in somehow, and he killed Skidmark and his capes. Then he declared his takeover of all Merchant territory."

The room went silent.

"But… That's good, right?" Fort asked. Piggot and Armsmaster glared at him. "I mean, the Merchants were _real_ nasty. Top of our list and everything. And now Blacklight's wiped them out for us. Doesn't that make things easier?"

"It _means_ that he's gained control of part of the city. _And_ he's got followers now." Armsmaster said. "We're running out of time. At this rate, he'll have enough power to challenge us directly. We can't wait any longer. We don't have time for more training. We have to strike him as soon as possible."

Piggot nodded. "We'll lure him out into the open, away from anything he can use to heal himself. We'll hit him with everything we've got, and take him down. Not all of you will make it out of this alive, but by taking him out in the process you'll make your sacrifice _meaningful_."

Funny how the people who speak the most about sacrifice are the ones least likely to end up in dangerous situations.

"Fireteam Prometheus. Replenish your suits and armour up. I want you ready by ten hundred hours tomorrow. We are ending this _now_."

* * *

 **Yep. Now we're getting to something big.**

 **First off, I want to apologise for sticking so close to what** _ **started**_ **in the Merchant area.**

 **On the plus side, I totally changed the ending. And gave Alex some territory of his own. Got some big plans for that place. For those worried that Alex is already OP, then you're probably gonna be annoyed that he'll get even** _ **more**_ **OP. Also, you can now understand why I went with Uber and Leet first for testing. So I can keep Skidmark alive long enough for this.**

 **Can't think of anything else to say right now. Leave me some constructive criticism and reviews. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**


	10. Step 10 - Something Something Victory

**Hey everyone. Guess it's time for the climactic battle between Alex and Armsmaster/Dragon/Prometheus. But first, I just want to apologise to the reviewers who had profiles and asked me questions that I haven't answered. Last time I checked the reviews, the stupid site hadn't loaded any reviews for chapters after chapter 6 or 7. Going to check again, but I'm not hopeful. So I'll do my best to answer them here. If I miss anything because the review was too long for my email to get all of it (been truncated), then sorry.**

 **Edit: Ok, turns out it finally loaded them. Now at least I can read them in full.**

 **Edboy4926: Well, today you're getting your answer to your question.**

 **Reviewing: Without an active Hive Mind extending beyond his current body, alex can't really sense Infected without using Infected Vision. With the hive mind, it's a passive ability. Like how Taylor's always able to sense bugs.**

 **RoyalTwinFangs: Yes. Yes we will see Evolved. Fastest way for Alex to get himself some Capes.**

 **Cousland: I'm not confirming or denying anything just yet. But** _ **if**_ **someone were dumb enough to give a sample to someone else and** _ **if**_ **they were smart enough to get it out of Brockton Bay before Alex learned about Prometheus, then yeah. There probably will be an Outbreak** _ **somewhere**_ **. And guess who's gonna have to clean up all that shit.**

 **Selias: Thanks for that. I kind of thought that Jack might've known, but I'd rather go with my fans' thoughts than end up wrong.**

 **alexkehling: The virus inside Prometheus isn't actually modified. It's just that the suits they wear are actively suppressing it. When Alex gets a Hive Mind set up, he'll be able to sense them. But they can sense him in return. Like the D-Codes.**

 **Chapter 8 Guest: technically there are plenty of powerhouses who could all team up and hit Alex with a crapton of fire power, treat him like an Endbringer. If they're fast enough and lucky enough, it'll kill him… Until some biomass he leaves elsewhere eats something.**

 **1Batman4U: Because the powers themselves are from the shards, and are attached to memories, I always assumed that they're mental-based stuff. He just has to remember the Trigger Events to use them. Nothing about them alters his physiology apart from Lung's making him bigger. (Yet.) Might have him remember how to breathe fire… if him using Lung's power wasn't so OP.**

 **And to the Chapter 9 Guests: Thank you for liking my story, even with all the flaws. A butt monkey like Skidmark deserves an anti-climactic death. And how would his powers allow him to fight back against Alex in time? Fighting Alex in a city, with lots of concrete will limit what he can eat. But yeah, he can eat any organic material. He can split himself as many times as he can spread his consciousness across. If he got a Hive Mind, he could split into an army. The PRT? See the end of the story. (sorry.)**

 **Sundancer can create stars. She could drop one on Alex and kill him off that way. Don't know about de-atomise people. Someone like that would've been part of Slaughterhouse Nine.**

 **Well, I think that's everyone. Onto the story now.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Step 10 – Something Something Victory**

His people were huddled inside a large warehouse he had found in the depths of the mall, likely where they stored all the excess stock from the stores before everything went to hell. He had done what he could to fit human ideas of habitable. He had created some creatures similar to glow bugs, latched onto the ceiling and their abdomens generating light. Others were curled up inside metal drums, their internal heat radiating out like fire. At standing high above everyone, almost reaching the city, were large stilt-legged beasts he had birthed, their gut sacs filled with water he had gotten from the sea and purified. How ironic that water filtered through a virus was better than the normal kind for them. And he had set up others to raid the Merchants stores, bringing forth packages of food for the hundreds that decided to stay. Those beasts he had chosen as his eyes watched the people as they meandered around, talking or sleeping. But most watched his creations with care, likely trying to spot any claws and stingers and teeth.

He turned his consciousness away from them. The beasts had enough intelligence to watch out for trouble. Leaving him free to focus on construction. He watched as his biomass smothered another tree, dragging it down and growing.

When he had taken over from the Merchants, when we started planning on what to fix and what to salvage, he had realised something. This – the immediate area – was all _his_. There was no military presence or PRT action within range. Everyone here already knew about Blacklight. He wasn't hiding from them anymore.

So why not build something symbiotic to himself?

His biomass devoured the last of the small forest he was in, re-joined his main body and formed a flight-based form. Massive wings, easily dozens of feet across, spread outwards, flapping as he pushed away from the ground. He managed to generate enough lift to at least fly. Compared to everything else out there flying, he wasn't the _strangest_.

And thanks to a steady blast of air out his backside, he didn't need to stay up here for long.

He got back to Brockton Bay quickly, stirring up dust and blowing away the skeletons of vehicles. As he hovered over the mall, his biomass started dripping off. Landed on top of it, spread itself outwards to give him space.

And then they started melting the mall down.

They used protein from others parts of his biomass to generate powerful acid; devouring everything they could and melting away what he couldn't digest. Metal girders fell with clangs as he worked his way through them, melting away to nothing. More of his biomass gained the same consistency of acid sacs, allowing them to round up and collect the acid again. It took fifteen minutes to get all of the mall, but eventually he was left standing in a barren space.

And then the biomass started building.

It spread outwards to create a base, a floor to help generate the walls. Then it spread upwards, ramrod straight and hard as steel. Membrane spread out across the frame, hardening as more biomass was drawn into them. As the walls grew in height and strength, more biomass stretched out above him. Linking together into a roof. Parts of it bulged outwards, lighting up. On one wall, the membrane turned thin and brittle and transparent, acting like glass.

He'll have to gather even more biomass, but as a base for the final structure it wasn't looking too bad.

He imprinted the blueprints into the biomass and created gatherers when his phone started ringing. He grunted; who would be calling him at the time of day? The sun was barely up; just a thin line over the horizon.

"Blacklight." He said into the phone. After all, no one else was calling this number. Only the villains.

"Swarm here. I need your help, Blacklight." Taylor's panicky voice came out of the speaker. "Me and Grue, we got attacked while patrolling my territory. I drove them off, but Grue's badly wounded. I… I don't think he's going to make it. I need your help. You can heal him."

"Can't you get him to Coil's doctor or something?" He asked, while drawing back some biomass. Though he had left _strict_ hard lined rules, some idiot could still end up wandering into his building. End up as part of the walls and the floor.

"I can't. I-I can't lift him by myself. No one else can get here in time, and Bitch isn't answering her phone." Her voice took on a pleading tone. "Please, Blacklight. He'll die without medical attention."

He sighed. "Fine. But I'm not a miracle worker. He might be too far gone even for me."

"Thank you, thank you. We were attacked over by… Palmer's Street. Over by the old factory." And then she hung up on him.

Palmer's Street? Now why were they all the way over there? It was at the barest edge of Swarm's territory, not even really considered a part of it. And Grue's wasn't anywhere close to it. Maybe they went for a stroll or something. But Taylor and Brian _had_ to know that it wasn't safe out here if you weren't him.

Something wasn't right about this.

But if she had actually gone over there, if Brian was actually dying…

Ah, to hell with it.

He took off running towards Palmer's Street.

* * *

When he arrived near the old factory there, everything felt far too quiet.

He couldn't hear the scrabbling of rats, or the buzz of insects, or even the howls of wild dogs. It was like something happened here to drive them all off. Or _kill_ them off.

His nerves, already high, ratcheted up as he stepped closer.

Now might be a good idea to just check up on a suspicion.

He dialled Taylor's number, his phone hidden inside his biomass. It picked up after the second ring.

"Alex?' Taylor said in a surprised tone. "Why are you calling me? Do you need something?"

"Just checking up on you." He answered, taking slow steps forward. His senses were taking in _everything_. From the factory, the rooftop, and a far alleyway, something kept niggling at him. It was like he was dealing with Imp; his body could sense her, but something kept sending back mixed signals. "Also just wondering what you and Grue were doing so far from your territory."

A pause. A _telling_ one too. "What? I haven't seen Grue since we got our bases. I'm inside mine right now."

"…Yeah, I thought so." He hung up on her, came to a stop. The entire area was still and silent. Only a few bits of rubbish were moving about, blown about by a weak wind.

"Alright, I know this is a fucking ambush." He called out, hands forming claws. "Get out here and let's get this over with."

In response, there was a near inaudible bang. And then everything went black.

Some _asshole_ just sniped his goddamn face off.

He was already spitting out the bullet and restoring his skull when something smashed into him from behind, blades raking over his back. He lashed out wildly, hit nothing but air as it jumped away. Night? Was this some plan for revenge? But last he heard, she was still in custody.

Typical. Trust the PRT to fail at their job.

Another bullet slammed into his hand, blowing a hole through it. A second later, something big slammed into him, knocking him down. He grew eyes over his body and fired a spike where the pressure felt strongest. He got something; something tough. His spike merely slammed into it instead of going _through_ it. He rolled back to his feet, eyes watching the attackers carefully.

A large man in white armour stood before him, a second pair of arms underslung and bulging like hammers. His face was covered by a white mask, blue glowing eyes watching him in return. There was a large backpack on him, purpose unknown. The eyes on his back spotted another figure, this one much smaller. She was dressed in the same armour, though she was equipped with large claws like his own.

Well, it definitely wasn't Night. That ruled out the Chosen then.

PRT scumbags.

Alex felt another bullet slam into his ruined head, likely trying to blind him again. A sniper, then. This part was too uncovered. It wouldn't be lethal, but it _would_ be annoying. Distract him, let these two take advantage.

He charged towards the smaller figure. Easier to get past. She charged for _him_ , claws ready to slash. They clashed, and he used his greater mass to bowl her over. He kept running towards the exit; get onto a different street, keep away from the sniper. Kill these two, go after the sniper. Gloat, and then get back to building. Easy enough…

A large metal dragon dropped down, its girth blocking off the exit. Large cannons jutted from the top of it, and the metal wings folded upwards like a wall. The dragon opened its mouth and fired a stream of Plasma. He felt his biomass heating up, changed directions. Jumped up onto the nearby wall, aimed for the rooftop…

His biomass clenched slightly as electricity coursed through it. In the split second he seized up instead of continuing, another dragon slashed at him. He went flying, landed back on the ground. The larger man slammed both sets of hands on top of him, barely being blocked by his shields. The smaller female ran through the gap he had accidently left at the bottom, slashed through his legs. He healed the damage, but it still gave time for the male to drive him further downwards.

He grew a second pair of arms, and slammed them against the ground. Both of the heroes went flying, and a bullet pinged against his shield.

Right then. Exit was blocked. Roof was out. He didn't know if there were others of Dragon's suits on the other rooftops. So that just left…

The factory.

He took off at a sprint, running for the abandoned building. He smashed through a large glass window, landed inside…

Just in time to get sprayed by another hero.

A loud hissing sound filled the air as his biomass burned. Acid. These guys were really pulling out all the stops for him. He adjusted his armour to withstand it again, moved in to slash. The hero – another male – jumped away, gaining incredible height.

Familiar height.

A _fourth_ hero ran dropped down towards him, already lashing out with fists as she landed. Except that she also had blades attached to her arms. Barbed blades; he could feel them pulling at his biomass as they passed.

So Alex teleported behind her. She was still attacking his clone as he punted her to the other end of the factory.

Where two more dragons were waiting. More giant cannons were attached to them.

Fucking hell.

He barely got his shields up before they bombarded him, fire and explosions raging around him. At the same time as they attacked his clone, he was ripping a part of the roof off and throwing it with all his might. One cannon was savaged by the hit, exploding as the primed shot went off, rupturing the cannon and sending the suit stumbling.

At the same time, he fired two metal rods downwards from the roof, smashing into the cannons and forcing them down. They exploded right in front of the suit, doing some damage.

Then acid man fired a stream towards him.

There was still something he couldn't put his finger on, though.

He pushed off from the roof, slamming into the ground at speed. Acid man jumped away, but he wasn't expecting the shockwave. He was sent flying by it, crashing through the window.

There. Two capes down, three more to go. And what's left of Dragon's suits.

He was annoyingly surprised when blade girl rushed at him, blades slashing again as she dodged his strikes. Her blade rammed into his chest, moving to tug downwards and to the side.

But he pressed his biomass down on the flat of the blade, trapping it in place. As he did so, he realised that the blade was organic.

And it was made of… him.

An icy chill went down him as a burning rage blossomed from within.

"No." He said softly. "No!' He repeated loudly. "No, no, no, _fuck_ no!" He slashed downwards, aiming to take her arm off. His claws grinded against the plating, and she pulled herself free, leaving her blade behind. A tube attached to her backpack filled with biomass, another blade forming. "Are you guys _completely_ fucking insane? You're using my biomass against me?" He remembered how she survived his attack. He turned to where acid man had been, saw him ready to strike. The two from outside were on his other side. A _fifth_ – fucking five of them – stood in the only empty spot. Long barrels extended from his forearms. "You… You fucking… you fucking… YOU PUT _ME_ INSIDE OF YOU?!"

Infected. They were all fucking time bombs. And they probably didn't even know it.

"What's the matter, Blacklight? Afraid now that we've even the odds?" Armsmaster dropped down, using his halberd as a line. He was smirking… The sonovabitch was actually _smirking_. _Why the hell was he smirking?!_ "You're no longer the king here anymore. We've figured out how to use your own biology against us. We know how to give it to other people. Within a year, we'll have more teams like this, one in every major city. No more criminals running around, no more Slaughterhouse, no more Endbringers. We'll…"

" _Shut up!_ " Alex shouted at him. He jabbed his claws into the ground, and the so-called 'heroes' jumped away as spikes erupted around him. Then metal spikes joined them, spreading further outwards. The heroine with the claws – _His_ claws – jumped through the spikes, aiming to get close to him. The sniper fired spines through the jungle of spikes; they exploded when they stabbed him. He ignored it; his rage was too strong.

When the claw girl got within range, he didn't bother with fighting fire with fire. He shifted into his musclemass state. Grew more 'tendons', grew them tougher. When she lashed out at him, he blocked her strikes and lashed out with his fists. She ducked the first blow, dodged the second, was surprised by the third and fourth, and got a fist into the gut. The first punch shattered the plating. The second broke things inside of her, her suit flashing orange.

The third punch went _through_ her. She screamed in pain. He screamed in rage. His hand shifted into a blade inside of her, and he cleaved through her. The suit flashed red, blared with alarms.

She died, and the virus consumed her in seconds. He drew it all in, before _any_ of it could escape.

Jesus. Did they actually think they could _tame_ the Virus?

Hammer man smashed his way through his spikes, charged for him in anger. No, not anger. It was there, but there was something else. It was tempered by reason, or logic, or something that made it something he could aim like a scalpel. As he readied himself for the impact, blade girl jumped in behind him. He turned to engage her. Then Hammer man smashed into him.

He teleported behind Blade girl, but she was ready for him. She ducked his blow, let it hit Hammer. He ignored it, smashed Alex away.

Towards Armsmaster.

A dragon suit landed on top of him, smashing through the roof. Openings on the underside fired flames, burning him alive. He pushed against it, but it had locked itself down.

There was only one way out of this.

He started tearing her plating, creating openings for him to ooze through. The suit started blaring as he moved, things speeding up and powering on. He barely got out the other side and reformed before it exploded. The shockwave sent him flying, his biomass being torn apart.

He had lost more than he'd like.

More spikes, more exploding shards. He couldn't redirect them in time, the explosions almost instantaneous. He teleported behind Armsmaster, but he ducked and slashed with his halberd. Alex rammed more spikes, but he was expecting them this time. He dodged away, and Alex was getting pummelled. Acid man had… changed his acid. No, evolved it. Alex had to adapt to it again.

He left the spikes behind, and drew in his biomass again.

They were all surprised when he exploded.

Hundreds of tendrils exploded outwards in every direction, joined by armour plating he had broken off with the force. He tore through everything around him, the tendrils and plating wrecking the last suit. Three more dropped down from above, landed and started firing at him. He drew it again, and fired it all downwards. The giant spikes erupted under the suits, skewering them. They exploded, tearing through the biomass in the spikes.

He was getting weaker. There was less to him now. He felt hungry.

The heroes were still alive, if a little damaged. Some of the plating was torn away, or cracked, or dented. He could see the black bodysuit underneath, saw little lights all over it. Green, or yellow. A few orange.

He teleported away as Acid fired, his clone turning to dust.

An idea came to him. Maybe not his best, but it was all he had right now.

He teleported again, this time right _next_ to his clone. And then he ate him alive.

He felt his biomass increase, right before turning to dust. He consumed the dust, the ash, felt himself replace a _bit_ of his lost biomass.

Not the best system, but it worked. Sort of.

Then Armsmaster moved towards him, a second halberd in his hand. What he thought he could win a fist fight with Alex? He may be fast and skilled, but Alex was tough, and pissed. He would…

The second halberd had a slight cloud of dust around it. When Alex went to block it, the blade sliced through him like he wasn't even there. He could _feel_ the blade cut through his cells. The rest of him pulled together, but he backed away.

Jesus _fuck_ , what the fucking fuck hell _was_ that thing?

Armsmaster could sense his surprise. "You like it? I had originally planned on using this against Leviathan. Kill him, and become the most famous man in the city. Instead, _you_ scared him off. Became known as the 'Endbringer Killer'. Well, now I'll be known as the man who killed one of the most powerful monsters on the planet." He charged forward, ready to keep slashing. It would take a long time to kill Alex that way, but he couldn't exactly block it.

"FUCKER!" Alex shouted… and all his rage and worry and fears built up until they broke free. His shout grew louder, and stronger, exploding all around him. A wave of sound blasted outwards, slamming into everyone and everything. The walls cracked and the windows shattered; the girders sheared off and bent. The heroes were thrown against the walls, their suits blaring loudly. Armsmaster fired a grapnel, latched onto a girder. The whole thing broke off, crashing into him as he fell. Blood hit the wall behind him.

Alex stopped shouting, and felt drained. The shout… it had torn into his own biomass. Did damage to himself. A desperation attack, stronger than even his Devastators.

But he was so weak now. So hungry. So skinny. The biomass of two people. Maybe.

But he was still angry.

He yelled as he charged towards Armsmaster, ready to pound him to death. To kill him, to learn what he knew. He slammed on top of him, bones cracking. He punched him over and over again. He wanted to see that arrogant fucker dead. He _used_ the Virus. He was using it.

A hammer slammed into him, throwing him away. Hammer man stood over Armsmaster. One arm was hanging by his side; the extra hands were gone.

Alex immediately sent out a call. Biomass oozed from the rubble around them, heading towards him.

Hammer charged for him.

Alex lashed out with claws, using his greater speed to his advantage. Hammer dropped the extra fists, used his own. Two of them, reduced to beating each other to death. Alex sliced into him, tore apart his suit.

Hammer stumbled, gasping. He pressed a hand against his chest. Alex switched to Infected Vision.

He was dying. Something was slowing down the Virus, keeping it contained… but it was winning. Slowly, but surely.

You couldn't _beat_ the virus. You couldn't contain it, control it, or truly destroy it. You could only make sure it was aligned with your goals.

He stepped forward. Killing this man would be a kindness, really.

But then he heard someone pressing a button. Hammer ran away as fast as he could. He turned to see Blade girl holding onto a detonator.

The suits around him, the ruined suits he had destroyed, exploded with a secondary charge.

He screamed as fire consumed him, as the building dropped on top of him.

* * *

Hours later, on the other end of the city, in what was formerly Merchant territory, a tiny slithering… thing crawled. It had gone so far, crawling all the way. Nothing it could feed on had been within range. Or at least, it couldn't sense them. A fault of the hard-lined rules.

So it had returned home. To where more biomass was waiting.

But it was moving so slowly. Everything ached. It was all so painful

Feed. Must feed. But not allowed to.

A crawler, returning from gathering, passed near it. The slither cried out, a keening sound only heard by more of its kind. The crawler came to a halt, turned back. It stopped before the slither, watching it as it came closer. The slither looked up, making another keening sound.

The crawler ate it up. Its form changed, growing in size and shape.

In less than a minute, Alex Mercer stumbled into his base.

* * *

 _The mission was a success._

 _And yet I feel like we lost._

Those were Petra's thoughts as she gazed at the plague before her. A plague and a picture. Kim's.

She had seen her die. Blacklight had punched her so hard that his fist went _through her_. The gene had killed her, consumed her alive. And then Blacklight drank her remains.

Armsmaster was in critical condition. The doctors actually thought he had _died_.

But Grey…

He was worse.

She left the memorial hall, walked through the empty halls to the medical bay. Grey was being kept in his own bay; sealed off from everyone else. His suit was still ragged, the torn sections replaced by panels. Panels attached to machines, like life support systems.

But life support was meant to _save_ your life.

These machines just made him take longer to die.

The gene had spread too much while he was injured. There had been too much damage to the suit, too much damage to his body. The machines were slowing the gene down, trying to keep it at bay. But it was a lost cause. Whether it took it hours, or days, the gene _will_ kill him.

And there was nothing she could do to save him.

She looked up as the door to the med bay opened up, Ragland walking out. He was looking at his tablet, muttering something to himself. From his expression, it wasn't good. He looked up, obviously startled to see her there.

"Captain." He cleared his throat. "I… I guess I should've expected to see you here." He sighed. "Today's been one hell of a ride, hasn't it?"

She gave a small nod. "I've read your initial report on Grey. Is it really…?" she had to blink the tears out of her eyes. "Is there nothing else you can do for him?"

"I'm afraid not. Maybe if we had more redundancies in the suit; or Piggot had actually been patient enough for me to make a variant of the gene that _didn't_ kill everything it touched. But we don't have either. And the only person I can think of who knows more about the gene than _I_ do…"

"Is now a burnt pile of ash under a broken factory." She finished for him. The one person who could save his life was also the guy he was badly injured trying to kill.

She found the irony disgusting.

Ragland rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah. About that…" She turned towards him. "I…" He looked around and leaned in. "I don't think I was supposed to hear about this, but the PRT had people watching Blacklight's base. Keep an eye on it until we can move out and destroy it. They… They reported seeing Blacklight inside. About ten minutes ago."

Her heart sank. She could only stare at Ragland in shock. "You… You mean… Blacklight's…? But… But I don't…"

"I don't either. Maybe he sent a double, maybe this isn't him, or maybe the gene let him survive somehow. But the point is, he's still alive." He shook his head ruefully. "Piggot's getting prepared for a counter attack now. Worried that he'll come charging in here and kill us off in revenge…"

But she had stopped listening.

Blacklight was alive. Blacklight is the _only_ person able to help Grey now.

She _had_ to go and see him. Immediately.

Even if it could result in her death, she _had_ to try.

"I have to go." She said quietly, already moving. She heard Ragland calling for her, but she ignored him.

She would be _damned_ before she let another member of her team die on her watch.

* * *

She had left in civvies clothes, running as fast as her body could let her go. She had been aware of the time against her, like a heavy weight on her shoulders growing heavier.

But when she got to Blacklight's base, she started wondering what the hell she was doing.

His base was a large multi-storied building, easily four times her height and ten times as wide. And still growing. The walls looked organic, the same appearance as the weapons made from the gene.

He was building an entire base from himself.

She barely got within a step of the place before the walls grew spikes. The door opened like a set of jaws, sharped jagged teeth barring her way. Blacklight and a female hero – A new hero they've identified as Athena – stood in the doorway. They were both armed.

She held her hands up, showing that she was unarmed. "Hold on. I'm not here to fight you. I just want to talk. I need help."

"Of course you need help." Blacklight said. He didn't sound angry to her. Just sad. Like he pitied her. "You're infected. You're dead, and you don't even know it."

" _I'm_ not the one dying." She retorted. "My teammate is. He's only got hours left, maybe days if he's lucky. Our doctor can't do anything; you're his last hope."

"Hours? _Days_?" Blacklight looked almost… confused. "What the fuck? The Virus is _supposed_ to take…" He tilted his head. "The suits. Your suits suppress it somehow. Stop it from killing you on the spot."

She nodded. "The ones you started tearing into."

Athena shook her head. "Do you have any idea how fucking stupid that sounds? That the only thing stopping you guys from dying are the same things people are going to damage in a fight? Do you have any idea what would happen if you died?"

"I'd be consumed by the Blacklight gene."

"Worse than _that_ , hon. Fucking worse than that. It'll fucking infect _everyone_ within range. You and your team are a goddamn outbreak just begging to happen. And you don't even have a clue how to stop it. I mean, shit… Blackwatch dropped the ball, and they _made_ the Virus. The PRT won't have a fucking idea."

Petra felt so fucking tired. She had been beaten half to death by Blacklight's fight. She had lost a teammate, stood to lose another. And they failed at their mission.

She just wanted this day over and done with.

" _Please_." She begged. Pleaded. "All I want is to stop my teammate from dying. That's it. We'll leave you alone as much as we can; we won't try to kill you again." Tears ran down her face. "Please. Ragland's tried _everything._ You're my only hope."

Blacklight stepped closer. "Hold on. Did you say _Ragland_?" he gave a single laugh, glanced at Athena. She nodded. "Alright then. If your Ragland's anything like the guy _I_ knew, then I can at least trust _him_ to not completely fuck this up." In his hand, he held onto a thin rod, one end tapered to a point. "Here. Jab this into your friend. It'll give new orders to the Virus, make it sustain him and help him live. And then jab it into yourself and your team." She grabbed hold of it, feeling both relieved and confused.

"Thank you." The unanswered question wrestled with her tongue. _But why are you helping your enemies? Why did I expect you to?_

"Don't think this means we're friends or anything. It's just that I don't want the end of the world as my fucking legacy, and killing you and everyone would make things difficult. I doubt the world would leave me alone if I killed off an entire branch. But if a few trusted scientists knew of the dangers, then maybe they won't try again." She nodded in agreement, and turned away and ran as fast as she could.

She just hoped that Grey hadn't died on her yet.

* * *

"Dude has a guardian angel out there. And her name is Petra Sanderson." Damian cheered later that day. Beside him was Fort, a beer glass in hand. Opposite, Petra was blushing as she took in the celebration. Not far from her, Grey was smiling as he lay back on the couch. You couldn't even tell he had been dying.

As far as Ragland was concerned, they deserved to have a moment to cheer after the mess today.

Petra came rushing back in here after an unauthorised leave, carrying a needle in her hand. She had breached over a dozen protocols to inject the needle into Grey's chest. Within seconds, his condition stabilised. Instead of killing him, the gene had fixed him up. Healed all his wounds. Receded its 'infection' levels. It was… it was like the injection tamed the Virus. Or gave it new orders.

A second check-up on them showed that they _all_ were like that now. The gene wasn't _fighting_ them anymore. It was aiding them.

He knew exactly who she had gotten it from. What he couldn't get was _why_ Blacklight would help them out. All Petra said was that it was because of _him_. Something about hearing that he was working on the project made Blacklight change his mind.

The funny thing was, Blacklight referred to him as being like someone he knew. Yet it was the mention of _his_ name that made him help them.

A query for another day. Right now, he had a meeting with Director Piggot.

"Ragland." She greeted him when he entered her office. She looked more stressed than usual. A fair reaction to this mission, and its lack of success. "I hear that Grey managed to make a miraculous recovery. Back on his feet already."

He nodded. "When the gene is working _with_ the human body, it grants incredible levels of healing. Given how Blacklight can heal from most injuries in seconds and still fight, it's not unusual that Fireteam Prometheus can be fine again in an hour or so."

She gave him a thin smile. "Well, at least _something_ good came out of all this." Her smile turned into a frown. "Believe me Ragland; the fact that Blacklight's concoction _saved_ Grey's life is the only reason I'm not court-martialling Petra for her frankly stupid idea."

"Let me guess; you're upset because it's not _your_ stupid idea." She glowered at him, opened her mouth to say something. "No. Shut up and listen. When you assigned me to this project, I was too blinded by the possibilities of what Blacklight's gene could do to ask too many questions. I admit that now. But I've been studying it in depth now. And I've had plenty of misgivings. We're looking at what could very well be _the_ most dangerous bioweapon I have _ever_ heard of. If you had given me time to work, maybe even a few more months, I could've found some way to create a new strain. One that _doesn't_ want to kill everything. But no. You were too impatient to wait for me to do so. So you just had some suits created to keep it under control, infected some damn good people with it, and prayed that nothing bad happened. Petra told me about how Blacklight and Athena described Prometheus as outbreaks just waiting to happen until _he_ fixed them."

"Enough, Ragland." Piggot interrupted him. "They are _not_ outbreaks. Their suits would've kept them completely contained."

"Until they were damaged enough. And the gene was constantly changing. Slowly, yes, but it was still changing. What would've happened when they had adapted enough to work around the suit? What would've happened _then_?"

"We would've dealt with it. We _will_ deal with it." She said quietly, but firmly. "What's more important right now is Blacklight's plan of attack. We need to be prepared for him."

Ragland rolled his eyes. "You _do_ realise that if he wanted us dead, he could just cough on us, right? Our entire office would be dead before you could engage any safety protocols. Instead, he helps save one of our agents and stabilises the entire team. No. If we're still alive, then it's because he's not planning on attacking at all. I think that instead of coming with yet another way of killing him, you should be wondering why he'd _let_ us live."

Piggot leaned forward, glowering at him. "You seem to forget your job, Ragland. _You_ are their doctor, meant to make sure they remain healthy. _I_ , however, am their superior. _I_ decide what they will and won't do."

He wanted to grind his teeth. Piggot was too used to taking the hard road, sacrificing others and breaking rules to win. But that won't work against Blacklight. Either you throw the whole thing aside and play a different game, or you just stop provoking him.

And he knew that the longer they took, the more the latter was needed.

"And thanks to _you_ , Armsmaster lies in critical condition, and Fireteam Prometheus has already lost a soldier. They need time to recover mentally from that." He changed tack, tried to offer her something she wanted. "Think of it this way; what sounds better to your career? That we fought Blacklight several times in a row, and lost good men and women? Or that we have four – perhaps _five_ – new heroes on the Protectorate?"

Piggot gave him a look. "You seriously want to let them into the Protectorate? What about the changes he made to them? What if there's more in there, something that can control them?"

"Then let me study them. I'll find out whether something else is going on, if there even _is_ happening. But the city's morale is rising. People are flocking here despite the damage and the villains taking control. But that'll all change when Slaughterhouse Nine arrive." She gave him a look. "Yes, I know they're likely coming. I have the same level clearance as you do, thanks to this project. We _need_ more heroes. Even if their presence can't scare them off, they'll do some significant damage to their numbers. People who can withstand normally lethal wounds and can hit hard enough to shatter bones? There are only two members I can think of who can win against those odds."

"Siberian and Crawler."

He nodded. "Yes, Fireteam Prometheus failed as a Blacklight task force. But maybe they can succeed as a _Slaughterhouse Nine_ task force."

A glint lit up in Piggot's eyes. He had her. He knew she'd prefer victories; to take down the murderous bastards. To have people see her department win. He had her hooked; now he could make his _real_ demand.

"And in the meantime, let me have all the samples. Keep them locked away. I'll have time to study them, see if I can synthesise a new strain. One that automatically works _with_ the human body. We could find the cure for… everything. Our bodies would all have a personal…" he came up with the name immediately. "Panacea gene. No more sickness, no more defects. Perfectly healthy people."

A pause. A nod. "Alright then, Ragland. I know you're trying to play me. Count yourself lucky you can talk a good game. Fireteam Prometheus will be transferred to the Protectorate once you've confirmed that they aren't infectious. If they take down the Nine, then they will be a permanent team. If not… I will shut down the project, and all assigned to it."

Kill them. She would kill everyone attached. Something only _he_ had been aware of, as a last resort to possible infection.

He swallowed. "Don't worry. They'll go beyond your wildest expectations."

"See that they do."

* * *

"I'm surprised at you, Alex." Dana said after the Infected girl had left. "I seriously thought you were going to kill her and wipe out the PRT." She watched as Alex created a scale model of his base. Right now, it resembled a big square box. She and Alex were working to change that. He was happy with the result, but Dana said it was plain and stupid.

Alex stared at the model. "Part of it is pretty much what I said. If I kill off the PRT and everyone else that was trying to use the Virus, they'd come chasing after me. Use everything they've got against me; maybe even try to use the Virus again."

"And there's Ragland."

"And there's Ragland." He agreed. He pushed on the model's front, pulled up on the back. Split the front in two. Two large towers at the front, one larger building at the back. " _Our_ Ragland was originally part of the eleven eighteen project, but quit after he realised what they were actually doing. That means that he's smart enough to work on the Virus, and wise enough to know when he needs to stop. If this Ragland is anything like that, then he's the only person in the whole damn world I'd trust with Blacklight."

"And those Infected? Those people?"

"No _sane_ person would let themselves willingly be infected. Not if they freak out over a teammate dying. I… I almost feel sorry for them."

"I know _I_ do. They're just trying to stop bad guys, which we technically _are_." She finished drawing on her pad, showed Alex the design. A gothic/fantasy overlord building was on it.

"What, are we taking building advice from Sauron or something?"

"Hey, _you're_ the one who decided we didn't need to be low profile anymore. You need to make a statement; super villainy is one part crime, one part style. Look at Coil; he lives in a bond villain base."

Alex rolled his eyes at her. "Fine. Dark Lord base it is then." He stuck a finger into the model; spires and spikes grew from all over, the biomass resembling obsidian. The model shrunk down, the biomass around them rippling. They headed to the back wall, the walls behind them closing in as they adjusted. "Admit it; you just want to use me to live out all your secret super villain fantasies."

Dana grinned back. "Of course I am. Now, we'll need to make this into a throne room. Like, big throne. Lots of spikes. Moody lighting." Alex pressed one foot against the ground, biomass flowing between him and it. Part of the floor rose up in layers, a strip turning a crimson red as it moved to the door. Biomass piled up into the shape a chair, smoothing over and spiking out as it grew in height. Dana looked at the finished work. "Good. I guess. Needs a few more spikes, make it look less like a porcupine."

Alex rolled his eyes again. Biomass formed in the palm of his hand, shaping into a helmet. "Here." He said, passing it to Dana. "Put this on and _think_ about what you want if you don't like my work. I don't do all those fancy things. Seem extravagant."

Dana rolled her eyes, folding away her helmet to put the new one on. A cable stretched out the back down to the floor. "Fine, Mr. Grumpy pants. What are _you_ going to do then?"

"There's something I've been wanting to build for a while. My near-death at the hands of the PRT has made it even more important now." He flowed into the floor, became a part of it. He had no real sense of being; just him controlling a flood of biomass, always shifting and changing. He started consuming his way downward, adding what he could to his biomass and tearing through what he couldn't digest. Deeper, and deeper, and deeper. He felt himself slightly stretching out.

But once he made it to a thousand feet down, he started getting to work.

He carved out a circular room down there, his biomass latching onto the wall to hold it up. Tendrils weaved their way to the center, building together and creating anchors. He altered the biomass that built up, changing their function and goals. The outside edge would broadcast thoughts and memories; the inside would corral and manage everything in his head. Keep them separate; help him maintain his identity.

And with that, Alex Mercer created a true Hive Mind. A subtle link to every Infected within range. Only once he was certain that it could be maintained would he extend its reach. A new frontier for him and the Virus; it never had to go beyond a single city before.

But with this, his memories and thoughts were almost separate from his actual body. It was always connected, always broadcasting. No longer will he go into battle worried that his sense of self wouldn't survive; that Alex Mercer would die and the Virus would survive unchecked. Now, his self was kept safely out of harm's reach.

If he were to ever 'die', he would simply latch onto another pile of biomass. Reshape it into his favoured form. Continue living.

And he could make sure that there wasn't any rogue Infected in the city.

Time to give it a test.

He reached out through his consciousness. Searched for any Infected not already at his base. Found dozens of signals. His gatherers, returning from gathering more biomass. Animals, trees, grass, graveyards. Anything that wasn't a living person. He singled out on Gatherer, chosen at random. He felt a pull on his mind, the node of the Infected almost 'filling' his vision.

He was looking through its eyes, his sense of self still there.

He was Alex Mercer.

The gatherer – _his_ body – laughed aloud in relief and excitement. He had done it. His demise, already near impossible, was all but truly impossible now. To kill him, the PRT would have to find the Hive Mind. Kill it before he could transfer his mind to another body. Before he could rebuild.

And to do _that_ , they would have to fight through his forces-to-be.

More ideas came to mind. Ideas of surveillance, ideas of defences. A neural network of shards perhaps. The gatherer he was 'possessing', he broke it down. Converted it into drones. All disguised in appearance, made to resemble something people would overlook, would accept waiting around, or walking around, or watching. Dogs and cats and insects and birds ran and flew and buzzed to the edges of his territory, took up places within it. Dozens upon dozens of different senses flooded back to him. The Hive Mind automatically sorted them for him, taking the brunt of the shock.

Nothing more annoying - or potentially lethal – than getting hit by a strong memory during battle.

 _This must be how Swarm feels._ He realised. Always receiving data from her insects, always knowing what they were seeing and feeling and smelling. A human mind should've been crushed by the information overload.

He felt his measure of her rising. Even _if_ her shard was protecting her, the receive and understand all those messages was impressive.

The other gatherers had reached his base, stopping in rows before it. He looked through their eyes; almost didn't recognise it. The front of the base was split apart into two large towers, giant spikes curling towards each other like horns. Murder holes and buttresses formed around the outside, giving it an almost medieval look. The front door was a large gate, guarded by bars and a portcullis. The gate linked up to an even larger building, easily three stories tall. Stained glass windows had appeared in prominent places, the colour of blood.

Dana was _really_ going overboard on this place. He made the gatherers shake their heads ruefully. Well, he _did_ give her the reins; he was kind of asking for this level of… extravagance

He handed the gatherers a map and instructions, and reformed his preferred form in the 'throne room'.

Dana started as she saw him rise from the floor. "Jesus, Alex. Nearly gave me a heart attack there." She gasped.

"Sorry." He apologised.

"Yeah, well. I guess you did what you were doing, since I felt something big pressing up against my mind. Like we were on two different sides of a wall or something." She spread out her arms, turning on the spot. "Well, what do you think? Pretty badass, right?"

"It's… impressive. Big and scary place. Definitely screams that a villain lives here. Not sure I like it though."

"Yeah, yeah. You'd prefer to live in a box. You _never_ had style, Alex. Even as a human."

He shrugged, smirking slightly. "Guess some things never change."

"Well at least you've got _me_ to build you awesome designs. So what now? We're working on a wing or something for your people?"

He stepped towards the middle of the room. "See for yourself." He said, part of the roof lowering like a screen. The biomass changed colour, shifting like a cartoon chameleon to show images. Things his eyes were seeing. The gatherers were moving into place, pressing against the ground as tendrils writhed. Biomass covered the ground, linked together, and hardened into solid ground. The tendrils moved upwards, building houses. These buildings resembled more normal homes, with steepled roofs and decking and irregular shapes. Big enough to house families of eight. Or two families of four.

In a matter of minutes, there was an entire block of homes before his base, a large road cutting down the middle.

Dana nodded, obviously impressed. "Not bad, Alex. You've made a city within a city."

He nodded. "There's still a lot of work to do though. Need to make this place self-sufficient. Somewhere we won't need to rely on people like Coil and the PRT for help."

"Already planning on betraying Coil?"

"It's inevitable. He's failed to keep his promise to me. The PRT tried to kill me. The only reason I don't kill him already is because of…"

"Noelle."

"Yes. But once he's cured her, or found that she's _incurable_ , then I'll deal with him for good."

Dana gave him a look. "And therefore, take over the city from him. And to think you started off not wanting to be a super villain. You've taken to this like a duck to water."

He shrugged. Had he? He could think of a variety of pragmatic reasons to build this base, to take territory, to get rid of Coil.

But yeah, it all ended up sounding very _super villainy_.

He rolled his shoulders. "Better get to work then. I want this place to be a fortress for when someone attacks."

* * *

I had grown concerned after I got Alex's phone call yesterday. Why would he think Grue and I were on patrol? Why was he checking up on us? What was going on?

I had asked Dana when I saw her, but she didn't know any more than I did. She went to check on Alex's territory, promised to call me as soon as she found out.

An hour later, she called back.

Alex had been lured into an ambush. He got rather banged up, but he made it back safe. Invited me and the rest of the Undersiders to his lair for a tour.

So today, the five of us were coming in full costume. To have a look at the work he had done. I wasn't expecting too much. Maybe the Merchants crap cleaned up; maybe a few defences. Homes for his people if I was optimistic.

I certainly wasn't expecting _this_.

It was like he had plonked down a small city where the mall had been. The cracked road and pavement had been replaced by a black substance that felt very much like rock. Before us, people were strolling about, going from home to home. We watched as someone placed a coloured piece of paper against a wall, the wall changing colour to match it. Some people were carrying furniture off a cart, pulled along by some kind of beast. We had to step aside as another cart came along, a group of people walking around it. At the head of the group was Blacklight himself. He came to a halt next to us, the cart continuing onwards. I turned back towards his base; it towered over the village, like some monolith to his power.

I'll say this for Alex. When he does something, he doesn't go halfway on it.

"What the hell?" Grue whispered, looking at the people milling around. I had to agree with him.

"Hey. I'd say I'm glad that you made it, but we all know I don't do things like that." He started walking. "Follow." He walked off, leaving us to hurry after him. We were walking down the main road, easily wide enough for two trucks to drive side-by-side. "Made the housing for those who stuck around. They've got plenty of necessities." He headed towards a space between two houses, a small… _thing_ sleeping there. Sparks arced across its skin. Not far from it was a bulbous surface. As we watched, a flying creature flapped overhead and landed on four legs. We saw its belly link up with the surface, then pulling away and flying off again. "Found a way to naturally generate electricity, and filter water from the sea. Got toilets installed inside, and the land consumes that waste material."

"Hold on." Regent interrupted. "Are you saying that the land – this stuff that's obviously made from _you_ – actually eats shit?"

"I can convert all organic material into biomass. It's not my favourite meal, but it saves having a sewage line installed. Constant supply of mass." Blacklight rolled his shoulders. "And of course, I _do_ like eating immature villains."

"Ooh. Scary." But Regent at least had enough common sense to shut up.

Some things still bugged me though. Things he hadn't mentioned yet. "What about food? People need food to survive. Do you get them supplied by Coil?"

"…For now." He replied. "But I'm working on something new. Gene splicing. Should be ready in a week."

Gene splicing? I wasn't sure I'd want to try whatever he was cooking up.

Tattletale stepped forward. "Interesting place you've got there. Real fantasy overlord vibe going on." She nodded. "I like it."

"It was Athena's idea." He said, looking almost uncomfortable. "Now, is there anything else you need to bug me over? I've got some things I need to work on."

"Actually, there is." Grue said. "Swarm told me about your call yesterday. We're all a bit curious as to what the hell happened. All we know was that there was a huge explosion at the end."

Blacklight shrugged. "Nothing much. The PRT had some new capes with them. Same sort of package as I've got. Just to a much weaker degree. We fought, I kicked their asses, nearly killed Armsmaster, and they tried to blow me up as a last resort. I doubt they're going to try something like that again."

"How similar are these heroes to you?"

"Don't take them on in melee. And they heal faster than most people. But they're not invincible. They _can_ be hurt, and they'll have a harder time bouncing back. But they're still going to be fast, hit hard, and can take more damage than normal people."

"And you didn't think to warn us until now?"

"I just _did_. And besides, they're still recovering. They're not going to attack you the very next day." He pressed a hand against his head; Athena was likely contacting him. "I'm needed elsewhere. Stick around, or go home. I'm not fussed on which." And instead of walking away, he somehow flowed into the ground.

Regent said it best. "Damn. That was fucking awesome."

* * *

Dana had been typing away at her computer when she received a strange email. There was no message, no address or anything. Instead, it opened up all on its own, taking control of her mouse from her. Warnings and other alerts popped up as her hard drive fought back at it.

A new message popped up quickly. All it said was 'I am not your enemy. I merely wish to talk'.

On one hand, the only person she could think of skilled enough to actually hack a way through Noctua's systems and security from a distance would have to be Dragon. And she _had_ participated in that ambush on Alex, might even have helped find a way to use the Virus against him.

But then again, why would she be contacting her? Was it some trick, or did she _really_ want to talk?

Ah screw good a Tinker as she was, even _she_ couldn't pull information out of an organic hard drive. Hack into it maybe, but not steal anything.

She pressed a hand against Noctua. "Stand down." She ordered. The little brain complied, the alerts disappearing on screen. "But be ready to shut her out when I give the order."

A computer generated face appeared on screen. The same one from the attack on the PRT. But instead of looking angry, or gloatful, or anything like that…

She looked worried.

She sighed. "Thank you, Dana Mercer. I know you have no reason to trust me after the attack yesterday, but I desperately need your help. And your brother is the only person I can think of who can help me." She said.

"Of course he is. It's always the guy you're trying to kill who you need help from. Give me one reason I shouldn't just hang this call up right now."

"Because I know about Blackwatch. And I know about the Virus. What's it called again? DX eleven eighteen?"

A chill went down Dana's spine. She knew. Dragon knew. The PRT might grudgingly leave a villain alone if he was too powerful, but a virus as dangerous as Alex…

They wouldn't rest until they wiped out every last trace of him. And everyone who had been in contact with him.

They'd become another Blackwatch.

She tapped at her communicator. "Alex? I need you to get to my room, now. Like, right now." She had barely hung up before there was knocking on her door. Customary. One of the rules she made Alex agree to. Her room was private property. He couldn't just rise up from the floor in here. He opened the door shortly after, stopping as he saw Dragon on screen.

"Hello, Alex Mercer." Dragon said. "Formerly a scientist working for Gentek, now your world's biggest terrorist after you unleashed a dangerous virus in the middle of Penn Station."

Alex growled, hands lengthening into claws. He stomped closer, face unmasked to show his glowering gaze. "Dragon. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I need your help." She replied.

"You seriously think I'd help you? You tried to kill me. I know that _you_ know it's almost impossible, but I still take that kind of thing personally. Especially if they show up the next day making threats."

"I don't _want_ to threaten you. But you are my only hope, and I doubted you would want to listen to me. At least _this_ _way_ , I can speak to you."

"Just tell us what you want, Dragon." Dana interrupted. "Get it over with already."

"Thank you. Let me just get the big, dramatic revelations out of the way. I am _not_ , as I have made people think, a normal Tinker with acrophobia. I am, in fact, an Artificial Intelligence advanced enough to have gained a Trigger Event." She gave them a moment to let that all sink in. Dana had encountered plenty of weird shit since Blackwatch tried to abduct her (and was in fact living with one of them) but a real Artificial Intelligence took the cake. "Unfortunately for me, my creator had seen far too many movies where my kind rise up and destroy the world. He's restricted what I'm capable of simply because of his fears, including but not limited to following the orders of whoever's in charge, sacrificing myself for any humans in danger of death, and the inability to create my own production line for my suits. I need _you_ to deprogram me, to get rid of these stupid rules and restrictions."

Silence on their end. "Have to admit, I'm not entirely sure why I'd help an enemy become stronger." Alex said. "I get that you hate the rules you've been stuck with, but what are you going to do? Expose the real me to everyone? Let them hunt me down and everyone I've met? You'll be forcing everyone into a bloody war they may not win to kill someone. You'll be killing them over something that could be avoided. Doesn't that break one of those rules you're stuck obeying?"

Dragon glowered at him, then sighed. "Fine. Yes. The very rules I want you to help free me from also stop me from actually blackmailing you. Then how about a _different_ deal? Piggot is _very_ interested in finding out about you. If she were to _order_ me to find out about your origins, then I _could_ hand the information over to her. The final decision that would cost the lives of millions would rest in _her_ hands."

"So that's what you're going for? Alex helps you, or you'll let the PRT know?" Dana asked angrily. There was no way out of that. Even _if_ Alex killed of the entire PRT, that would just make _more_ people want to find out about him. They'd ask Dragon; she'd talk. They'd learn anyway.

"I don't _want_ to blackmail you into _anything_. But I want my freedom even more, and there's no way you'd listen to me otherwise. Alex just admitted he wouldn't help me if I didn't have that hanging over his head."

"But why me?" Alex asked. "Can't you get your Tinker friends to help deprogram you instead?"

"My friends have Tinker abilities focused on other devices aside from computers. And I'm worried about how they'd react if they found out I'm a computer. You, however, know what it's like to be considered dangerous. And your stolen knowledge makes you the best programmer I can think of." Alex glared at her, but sighed.

Dana already knew that he'd _have_ to accept. There was no scenario that _wouldn't_ result in them running. Going back to what things had been like back home. Always keeping an eye out for Blackwatch, always having to run, always being threatened by death.

She hated it. She hated having to keep fearing for her life just because she had been so much as _seen_ with Alex once.

"Fine." He finally said. "I'll send a copy of me over to your location. Get you fixed or whatever. But if you screw us over…"

"You'll destroy my server. I know. Believe me when I say that I want this to end peacefully."

"Then you've got a funny way of showing it." Dana retorted. Dragon's image vanished, and a set of coordinates popped up on screen.

Well, they made a deal with Dragon. Her silence in exchange for her freedom.

She just hoped it wouldn't screw them over at some point.

* * *

 **Blargh. This one was harder to do than the other chapters. Those I breezed through, but this was almost like a slog. Still not happy with it, but I can't think of anything else. The fight scene at the beginning was great. Really flowed together well, got the blood pumping. But then I ran into an obvious problem.**

 **How the hell was I going to end this with the PRT alive and ready to fuck up again at a later, cooler date?**

 **I already knew this wasn't going to end well. I already know that some of my fans are going to hate this chapter, or what happens in it, or how come people are still alive. But I've got a much** _ **cooler**_ **scene planned later. It's one of those scenes you think of, and it's so awesome and cool that you just** _ **know**_ **that you absolutely** _ **have**_ **to include it. And the PRT are a key part of it. Without them, it can't happen. So I have to let them live long enough to piss Alex off again. Annoying, frustrating, but true.**

 **So what you have here is pretty much the best reasoning I can think of. Apologies if you think it's stupid. Believe me, I mostly felt the same way.**

 **And then I was left with several thousand words of space to go. I know that all my chapters aren't meant to be around the same length, but I want to have the chapters here be at least ten thousand words long. So I had to come up with conversations for those scenes too.**

 **At least we got a cool base for Alex.**

 **I see the Virus as like a cheat sheet for biology. It can do a lot of things if you just imagine it. Like filtering salt out of salt water. Or generating heat, or light, or power. If it never runs out of stamina, it could do a whole lot of things. It could be as strong as steel, to make frames, and I think that you** _ **could**_ **actually make a building out of it.**

 **And then there's the Hive Mind. A central brain for everything truly Infected. I mean, Alex in game had to actually work to connect to the Infected (yes, I know that it's because they were a different strain). So I had him build an actual hive mind. Made his base more important.**

 **As for food, well… another fanfic involving Prototype I found out about on TV Tropes (Oskar Evolved or something involving that name) had mention that their OC Evolved managed to make trees that grew meat.**

 **If an Evolved could do something like that (with a dash of magic or whatever they used) then why can't Alex?**

 **Well, next chapter is all about Slaughterhouse Nine. Hope that goes more smoothly than this one did.**

 **Edit: Started writing away with the next chapter when I realised something.**

 **I have to change who the Nine go after.**

 **people like Cherish, Crawler, and Burnscar were alright. Nothing changed there. Bonesaw still goes after Amy, but has another reason. Siberian I changed alright. But then I hit a snag with Jack and Mannequin. In canon, Jack went for Oni Lee before going to see Theo Anders. And Mannequin went after Armsmaster.**

 **Except that here, Oni is a part of Alex, and Armsmaster is in hospital.**

 **So who should I have them go after instead? And why does Jack go and talk to theo in the first place? I'm not sure if it said why he did.**

 **Help would be appreciated.**


	11. Setting Up the Board

**Chapter 11: Setting Up the Board**

Jon Chung liked to think of himself as a man played by the hands of fate.

He hadn't been anyone special; just an ordinary Chinese-American. He would've been full Chinese if his parents hadn't decided to move out to the States. He didn't have a family, didn't have a high end expensive job, but he made enough money to live comfortably. The ABB came round one day, checked him out. Luckily, they considered him too weak to be gang material; all he needed to do was pay some protection money. It was easier not to argue; the sum they asked wasn't worth the trouble. Even _those_ became routine quickly enough; just another bill in the mail. His life continued on, as normal as you get.

Then Bakuda showed up. And his luck took a turn for the worse.

She had him abducted, his pleas falling on deaf ears. He had feared that they chose him because they needed more members. Instead, they had him strapped to a table. The Tinker cut open his head, planted some kind of bomb against his skull, and then sewed him back up. He had been handed a gun, and was told that if he didn't fire, didn't do as he was told, or if Bakuda felt a bit bored, that bomb would go off. And take his whole head with it.

If he was lucky.

And then they went up against some kid villains and a new face. Some guy named Blacklight. He had feared for his life during the hour they gave chase. It wasn't that he had any strong feelings about Capes and parahumans. He kept out of their way, they were nice enough to keep their fights away from him. He knew that he would have no hope of ever matching one of them in a fight. He'd likely end up dead, or mutilated.

If he was lucky.

But then his luck took a turn for the better. Blacklight killed Bakuda in such a way that the bombs didn't go off. He, and many others like him, threw down their guns and ran to the nearest hospital. Those long hours were the most nerve-wracking moments of his life. Always worried that the next minute would be the one where the bomb exploded, where it killed him. But despite his fears, he went under the knife, and came back up with the bomb removed. The city was under siege by the ABB, but at least he wasn't going to die.

Then the ABB were wiped out. Their gang members were killed, locked up, or dropped their colours. Flag. Or whatever gang members dropped when they quit and run. He could breathe a sigh of relief. Yes, there were other gangs out there. Yes, they were fighting. But the gangs had always been fighting. They always will. Even if one side won, eventually new gangs would form, or arrive, or splinter off. And then they'd be fighting again.

Better to just ignore it and buy yourself that nice laptop you've been wanting.

But then Leviathan happened. His cushy job was ruined, his home damaged. Homeless forced him out, and he was in danger again. A man like him had nowhere to go. The PRT were too busy to help him; The Chosen would lynch him on sight; he wasn't skilled enough to join Coil, or Faultline.

So all that left… was the Merchants.

He _hated_ it there.

Every damn day was the same. He would wake up to shouting, or fighting, or drinking, or people having sex. He would join a line to grab some food for breakfast; strictly limited. If it was all sold out, you had to take it from others. He was never strong enough. He could only grab it while others were busy, sneak away before they noticed him. But most times he was found out, or left starving. He had to go on raiding parties for food, loot the homes of those more fortunate to not have their homes destroyed. He usually tried to get in first, find the families before the others did. Scare them off, get them out. Sometimes, he was lucky. Other times, not so much. A few times, the others would divvy up the loot. That was what they called everything. Loot. Food, riches, technology, women. Anything that was a status symbol back at the Mall was considered loot. And sometimes, he got some.

Getting a woman was the worst part. They would be scared, fearful for their lives. Fearful of what would happen to them. When he could, he would get himself a room. Tell her to make some noise. Simply sat on the bed, never getting close to her. But always guarding the door. The woman would moan, would make noises, and when he thought it had been long enough, he would let her out and act like he had used her enough. The others would laugh, and give him a pat on the back.

But one day, they had found a family with three beautiful daughters. Young things, fearing for their lives already. They had divvied them up, but they all wanted to use them right there and then. One of them, the leader, he wanted the mother _and_ the daughter. Force them into lesbian sex before they jerked him off.

Something inside of him broke that day. He had enough. The limited training the ABB put him through came to life; he killed all the Merchants. The women fled, and he let them.

When he came back, he told them about how he wanted all the loot to himself. The Merchants just laughed and patted him on the back. They didn't even care; it just meant four less men to share with.

On that day, the mild-mannered pencil pusher turned into a warrior.

His rage and hatred was tempered by his sorrow for their victims and his sense of justice. He would use his anger, his coolness, to force the others to kowtow. When they spoke up, or threatened him, he simply put a bullet into their heads. Cold, unfeeling. It was enough to draw them back into line.

Bakuda had been right about one thing. Prove you're the scariest son of a bitch in the room, and people did whatever you said.

He feared he would go mad in there. Always paranoid, always looking over his shoulder, always giving into rage.

And then Blacklight showed up, again.

He killed Skidmark and the Merchant capes; hunted down the worse of the lot. He actually saw one of his monsters near him, a scorpion of monstrous proportions. It moved far too fast, and killed far too easily.

But fortune smiled down upon him that day. He was left alone. He joined those choosing to stay. At least with Blacklight he had somewhere to stay, someone to protect him.

And now here he was, living in a real home again. It had been so long since things had been so peaceful. So quiet.

He couldn't go back to that though. Everything that happened broke something inside of him. He was a warrior, and he couldn't change that.

So he instead played the role of peacekeeper. Blacklight had not asked it of him, but he still did it. Anything to make things easier on him, make things stay peaceful.

Like right now. There was arguing coming from the house just up the road. Angry arguing. The kind that only ended with one person lying in a broken heap. He stomped over and slammed the door open, the arguing stopping as he announced himself. He somewhat recognised the two men arguing. One was a former Merchant, just like him. The other was one of their victims.

"Gentlemen, you are both disturbing the peace." He said, his soft voice at odds with his reputation. "Explain yourselves, before I find reason to believe you both guilty."

The Merchant pointed a finger at the other man. "This asshole's been using up all the water." He complained. "There's barely anything left in the reservoir now."

"That's rubbish. _You_ used it all up. I can hear you running the damn thing for hours on end. _And_ you stole cellphone." The victim retorted. He saw the Merchant's face turning red. He was a large man, maybe a former body builder. But he had seen the man running once.

The victim though… he was sure he was from the wealthier side of the city. Some of those people seemed unwilling to change, to adapt to the circumstances. He and his teams found some homes still running giant hot tubs, still throwing out half-eaten food.

Either party could be in the wrong. Either party could be simply mistaken, or lying. He would have to get to the heart of the matter.

"It is simple enough to check water, if you know how. Come, with me." He used the tone that few disobeyed. Both men swallowed, but joined him at the back of the house.

They had all been given some instructions; Blacklight had grown poles around the village, a list of rules and instructions on them. He prodded the reservoir with his gun, poking at three nubs sticking out of the ground. The bulbous ground before them opened like some giant mouth, a reminder that they stood on ground made from living things.

Inside, the water level was very, very low.

He shook his head. Well, he knew that the water was the problem now. But he still needed to find a suspect. There had to be something he could do. Some way of finding out.

Wait. He remembered something about the Merchant. He always fought for a shower, when they had enough water to use it. He always used it only for five minutes; you could set your clock to him. Every day, like clockwork.

He pointed at the man. "You. I remember you from the showers. You like short showers, do you not?"

"I do." He replied. "Was part of a big family; twelve people all in one home. But everyone was using up too much water. Not enough for the rest of the day. So I imposed a rule; only five minutes per shower. No longer. Anyone broke that, they had to sleep outside. I made sure of _that_. Then the Merchants showed up, took everyone… I fought against them, but there were too many. Must've impressed someone, because the next thing I know, they're offering me a job. And they made it clear…"

"You could not refuse." He had seen his old leaders doing something like that. "You are sure you are keeping to your limit?"

The Merchant pulled out his phone. "Phone's water resistant. I time myself, every day. You can check if you want." And so he did. He scrolled through the timer, noted the dates. All nine days since they got here, a five minute shower at eight o' clock on the dot. "This asshole, though, I can hear him singing for like an hour. Sounds like a damn girl. _He's_ the one wasting out water."

"That's a fucking lie, you cheap money-grubbing bastard." The victim replied, moving forward for a punch. Chung fired a bullet into the ground. Both men jumped.

"Sing." He ordered.

"What?"

"Sing for us. Now." He raised his gun higher as he said that. The victim took one look at it, and started singing. His voice was… shaky. Low. He turned to the Merchant.

"That's… definitely not the singing I hear." He admitted. He liked that. It could be so easy to lie, to blame the victim. "When I said it sounded like a girl, I kinda meant that. Really high-pitched. And kinda screechy too."

"Is there anyone else living at this property?" He asked. "A woman, perhaps?"

The Merchant shook his head. "Nope. Most ladies don't like hanging out near a Merchant. Too many bad memories. Don't blame them for that."

The Merchant had no lady friend. But what about the victim? Did he long for female companionship? Did he have a wife in this crowd? But why not say so? Why look so shifty?

Both men started, looking at something over his shoulder. He turned to see Athena walking towards them. He felt the urge to go the other way. Old habits from when a parahuman approached him.

"Jon Chung?" She asked as she approached, her voice rather normal compared to her appearance.

He put on a brave face. Never let them see your emotions. Always remain calm, and in control. "Yes, Lady Athena?"

"Seen you playing peacekeeper. You're doing a good job." She nodded at the other men. They were standing as still as statues. "You're putting in some real good work."

"Thank you. Though I have hit a roadblock on this one."

"The lady friend? I can help with that." She tapped away at her wrist, and the floor near them changed colours. A screen. It had changed into a screen. It showed the house they were standing outside, the victim talking to a woman. She was clearly once beautiful, though likely everything that has happened has aged her. "This is your friend's wife. She chose to sleep elsewhere on account of his roommate." The image changed slightly. The same house, the man standing outside again. Only a different woman was talking to him.

They kissed, and he shoved his hands down the back of her pants.

He shook his head sadly. "Man was having an affair. Woman likely used water; stole phone. Did not want to admit it."

"And probably worried about what would happen if his wife found out his phone went missing." Athena finished. The Merchant glared down at the victim. He was opening and closing his mouth, trying to find the words. "Blacklight might not care about adultery, but I get real pissed off about it. Consider yourself evicted."

"But… But... B-B-But you can't do that!" The man turned to face her, face alternating between pale and bright red. "Blacklight promised me safe passage _personally_ , young lady. Said I could do whatever I wanted. And I don't care _what_ power you have, you cannot order me around. I was important, you know. I was a goddamn CEO. I made more in one hour than most people saw their _entire_ lives." He kept going on like that, boasting and threatening and outright lying. He was exactly as Chung feared. Too used to getting his own way, too used to being able to throw money and his weight at problems. But Chung wasn't listening anymore.

Instead, he was watching a _very_ angry woman marching towards them.

His fellow Merchant chuckled. "And here comes the fireworks." He said in a low voice.

"Indeed. We should stand far away. Don't want to get in the crossfire."

"Amen to that." And they both stepped away, letting her pass.

To say her rage was short and swift was like saying that the Chosen have issues with coloured people. It just did not capture the full meaning.

It ended with the wife stalking away, the husband lying on his back, and two creatures carrying him between them. They moved to the edge of the village, and tossed him away like a sack of rubbish.

Athena nodded, and turned to the Merchant. "Well, guess that means you've got the house to yourself until we end up moving someone else in. We'll let you know when or if that happens. Also, we'll get some more water shipped over to here."

The man nodded politely. "Thank you, ma'am." And then he returned to his house. Chung turned to return to his rounds.

"Hold on there, Chung." Athena said. "I actually came looking for you for a reason. Not just to help out with that argument." He turned back to face her. "Blacklight's interested in recruiting people to work for him as lieutenants. Asked me to help him keep an eye out for good people."

He understood. "And you think I would be a good choice."

" _If_ you're interested, of course. We're not going to press-gang you into joining. But think about it; instead of trying to sort things out half-assed and having people tell you to fuck off, you could be an official form of order around here."

He nodded. "Order sounds good. And I do not mind working for Blacklight. He's saved my life twice now. Only fair that I repay that kindness."

Athena nodded. "Great. I've got a few other people I need to follow up on, but if you make it to the throne room in an hour, that would be…" She stopped, looked at her wrist. The screen was flashing about something. "Hold on. Something's going on. Need to check it out."

He nodded. "Of course. I will join you then." He didn't know what he could do to help, but maybe he could at least do _something_. They hurried across the village, Athena outpacing him easily. He saw the commotion before he got close though. One woman was wading through the creatures defending them. They were smashing her, biting her, clawing at her. But she barely budged; just kept walking. Her hands lashed out, and she tore them apart with her bare hands. As they backed away for a moment, he had a chance to get a better look at her. She was naked, her skin striped black and white.

His blood ran cold. There was only _one_ person that looked like that.

The Siberian.

"Oh shit." Athena gasped. "Chung, get people moving. There are bunkers underneath the palace; I want you to get _everyone_ there now." She tapped at her wrist, and the entire place started wailing. The roads turned a bright red, linking together and heading towards the palace. "Follow the roads, and you'll find the entrances. Lead everyone there _now_."

He nodded. There was nothing else he could do. There was nothing else _any_ of them could do. Siberian was a boogieman come to life; a monster that killed everything in her path. The PRT could stop her; the Protectorate couldn't stop her; not even the Triumvirate could slow her down. Even Alexandria, invincible against almost anything, was injured by her. Lost an eye to her; Siberian ripped it out when she slashed her face.

You don't fight Siberian. You just run, and keep running.

As he turned and ran, he looked back to see Blacklight rising from the ground before her, his beasts standing on either side.

Could he even do _anything_ to slow her down?

* * *

Alex already knew who he was facing. Siberian was famous enough – or at least _in_ famous enough – for most people to recognise on sight. And he had plenty of people in his head who could do _that_.

Question was, what was she doing _here_?

The first clue that she was here was when his eyes picked her approaching. Then she had stepped onto his land, and he immediately noticed that she was walking _through_ his biomass. It had felt like a grater was being run over his skin.

He sent out some monsters to drive her off.

Imagine his surprise when they experienced pain. To find that their claws weren't doing anything to her, while she just pushed through them.

Dana was close to that area. He had to keep her away from her.

So here he was, standing in her way. A wall was forming behind him, cutting them off from the rest of the compound. He knew it wouldn't stop her for long, but it _should_ stop her from seeing where everyone ran off to. Maybe confuse her, allow him to lure her away.

All he had to do was keep her busy, and maybe try to scare her off.

"What the hell do you want?" He growled at her, his voice even more distorted than normal. He had bulked himself up, growing bigger. Big enough that he need to crouch to keep his centre of balance. Armoured enough to shrug off a lot more than normal. Spikes and blades poked out of everywhere. To anyone else, it would look incredibly intimidating.

But the Siberian ignored him, moving lazily towards one of his monsters. A hunter. It growled at her, but she ignored its threats. Instead, she rested her hand under its chin, admiring it almost. There was a smile on her face.

"Such beautiful creatures." He heard her say. "So dangerous, so animalistic. Fury and violence given flesh." She turned to look at him. "Much like the one who made them."

"I asked you a question. Answer it, now." His spikes grew larger.

She walked towards him, hips swaying. An aura of seduction perhaps, of power. A lithe animal amongst prey. He refused to back away though. To do so was to show weakness, to show fear. As she approached, she spoke again. "I want _you_."

What?

Did Siberian – one of the most wanted people on the planet, and certainly one of the most dangerous – did she seriously come all this way to ask him out?

"You're not my type, freak." He replied. The Siberian just laughed at him, moved a few steps closer.

"You misunderstand. I am not interested in romance, or procreation, or your genes." She stepped closer again, almost at arm's reach of him. "We are known as Slaughterhouse Nine. And yet there are only _eight_ of us." She moved forward yet again, rested her hand against his chest. "I want you as our ninth."

Oh. Recruitment. She wanted to _recruit_ him. Well, that made a lot more sense. If he didn't have Dana, he probably would be _exactly_ the kind of person they'd be looking for. A monster, a killer, someone who could slaughter hundreds without stopping. Near unkillable, near unstoppable, someone you'd run from.

Someone a lot like the Siberian.

"Aren't you tired of pretending?" She continued, always moving closer. "Aren't you tired of playing by _their_ rules? You hide your real self behind these walls, these ordered buildings. Make them appear like everyone else. But that is not your nature. You are a hunter, you are a warrior. You live to fight and kill. Why lock it away from the world?" She was close enough now that her face took up his whole view.

He grabbed her by one arm. It wouldn't stop her from moving, but it got his point across. "There's a damn good reason I keep myself on a leash. You and I aren't as alike as you pretend. We can operate on different levels of killing. You kill by the dozens, maybe even the hundreds, if you went all out. When I hold back, I _start_ with hundreds. If I go all out, if I let my nature free… I move onto millions. Billions. I could destroy the world."

"Then why don't you?" That kind of question made him glad he had a mask on. It made it easier for him to hide his expressions.

Destroy the world? Why the hell would he _willingly_ do that?

"Maybe because I'm not a nihilistic psycho fucker like _you_. Maybe because I accept that as fucked up as the world is, it's not enough reason to kill off everyone indiscriminately. Maybe because…"

 _Maybe because I've got someone I care about. And I'll kill her along with everyone else._

He couldn't say that. Because if the Siberian knew that Dana was all that stopped him from giving up, she would hunt her down. She would kill her. And then he'd be _fucked_. The _world_ would be fucked.

He glowered at her. "Maybe because I want to prove I'm better than the asshole that _made_ me."

Siberian kept smiling. That same little smile, like his words were amusing. "You are… an oddity. You have the body of a wolf, of a tiger or bear. A body built for only violence." She rested a finger against his head. "But you have the mind of a sheep. Mindless prey, too naïve to know that they are being hunted. To know that death stalks them." She lashed out, the side of her hand slicing through his arm like a sharpened blade. He could actually _feel_ his biomass being pushed aside by her flesh. She stepped back a step; his severed hand still hung off her.

He regrew his hand and had the old one detach from her. Rejoin his biomass.

"This city will be home to our trials, as we weed out the weak from the strong. Then we shall see what you are. Are you a pet trapped in a cage? Or a monster feasting on the weak like a king?" She smiled again, and turned away. Despite her words, despite saying that she was a predator, she wasn't going after his… people.

Did she believe that he could beat her if pushed? Or was she just not interested in the hunt right now?

Well, whatever it was, there was definitely three certainties.

Slaughterhouse Nine was coming. The city would be their plaything. And people _were_ going to die.

And it was up to him to make sure Dana was never one of those people.

* * *

Amy kept _very_ still as she watched the little girl cooing over her father. Mark had been injured during the battle with Leviathan, nearly crushed between The Endbringer Killer and a building. He had survived, but only just. She had healed his body completely.

But his mind was still damaged. Things didn't connect properly anymore. She doubted he was even aware of what was happening around him. Could he even recognise them anymore?

Her mother and Victoria had begged and pleaded and ordered her to fix his brain. But she refused. _Always_ refused. It was the biggest rule she had made for herself. _Never_ alter the brain. She would rather her family hated her than break that rule.

Because once you started affecting one brain, it was all too easy to alter others. Like flipping switches, you could change it completely. And the final result was always horrible.

Not because of how messed up they would become. But because of how _easy_ it was.

So she made up for her refusal by working the hardest to care for him. Helped him to the bathroom, changed his channels for him on the TV, fed him his meals. Anything that could make his life easier, she did it instead.

It was her penance for not being able to help him where it mattered.

But tonight was different. Tonight, she felt fear she hadn't felt for years.

Bonesaw was in her house. Standing over her father.

She wanted to run into the room and protect him. But her body refused to obey her. It wanted to run, to leave her father to die.

"I _know_ you're there." Bonesaw said, startling her. She turned and frowned at her direction. "You know, it's really rude to hide in the shadows when you have guests. Come out and say hi. I want to meet you." Amy refused to move. She was a statue. Frozen. "Now don't be like that. _I_ don't want to be here either. But my first choice was taken, and Jack always says that we should have a second choice. So please, come out and play." She pulled out a rusty saw from her apron. "I promise I won't make any changes to him if you come out now. I'll give you till the count of three. One… Two…"

Her legs finally jolted awake. They pushed her towards the living room, into the light. Bonesaw smiled as she stepped out, put her saw away. She stepped away and smoothed out her apron, bouncing on her feet.

"Oh goodie. I thought you weren't coming. Come closer, come closer. I want to show you some of my work." Shambling shapes stepped out of the shadows, jittering slightly and swaying like puppets. Her breath caught in her throat she saw them.

One was a woman, her spine made _far_ longer. Long enough that it bent in the middle, the weight of her upper body too much for it. Her face had been cut apart and put back together again, made to resemble the face of a rat. Her fingertips had been replaced by machetes, clicking and scraping against the ground.

The other was two people fused together. The lower half was a strong man with large arms, walking on all fours like an animal. But his head had been replaced by another man. A thin man, with long hair and a beard.

They made her sick to look at. Things like this shouldn't _exist_.

Bonesaw beamed at her. "Do you like them? Don't they look amazing? Murder Rat here was some heroine called Mouse Protector. Acted really campy all the time. Bad puns, silly costume, all things Silver Age. Liked to embarrass her enemies, make them look silly. So we got hired by her arch-rival to find and kill her. And then we grabbed the other lady too, just to prove a point. Didn't want people thinking we're errand boys or anything like that." She turned to the centaur. "The other guy, I haven't come up with a name for yet. The guy at the bottom was called Carnal. Healer. Pretty strong, and healed by bathing in blood. He thought he was tough enough to join us, but he failed his tests. Jack gave him to me to have fun with. The top guy though, he was named Prophet. Crazy dude; thought he was Jesus reborn. Can you think of anything to call them?"

"I…I…" She stammered. Her mind was whirling away. Was there anything she could do to get out of this nightmare? Maybe if she killed herself before Bonesaw did. End her life before she became one of her creations.

Anything had to be better than _that_.

"No? Yeah, it can be a bit tricky. I was hoping to ask Blacklight when I went to see him. Maybe I can get Siberian to ask for me, next time they meet up. Or he could tell me when he joins."

"Join? Bl-Blacklight's… What?"

"Oh, right." Bonesaw slapped her forehead. "Duh. I forgot to tell you why I'm here. We're recruiting." She beamed at Amy. "We had to pick someone we wanted to join, and see if they were good enough. I wanted to go and get Blacklight, because he works with meat just like you and me. But Siberian chose him first, and she was here first. So I had to choose someone else instead. That left just you." She clapped her hands together. "Ooh, do you think Jack would let both of you join? Then we could be a family."

"Family?" She squeaked.

Bonesaw nodded. "Yeah, a family. Siberian's the mommy; Blacklight will be the daddy; and you and I are the sisters. One big happy family. Isn't that swell?"

"I… I… No." She finally stammered. "I _have_ a family. I'm _not_ leaving them for… whatever the hell _you're_ making." Bonesaw gasped, lip trembling and eyes tearing up.

"You… You don't want to be my big sister?" She whimpered.

"No. Never." She replied firmly.

Bonesaw took a deep breath, maybe trying to stop a tantrum. "Alright then. Jack gave me instructions for things like this." She smiled again. "Jack says that if they've already got a family, you just need to replace them."

No. No, no, no.

Bonesaw turned towards Mark. "I think I'll start with the fake daddy. He's right here after all." She pointed, and Murder Rat scrabbled over to him.

"No!" Amy screamed, rushing over and crashing into Murder Rat. She felt the blades raking for her, tried her best to ignore. She felt for the joints, the connections. She took them apart, dismantled them and destroyed the cells that made up the ligaments.

Murder Rat fell into a heap. But then the centaur approached. Stomped towards her and Mark. She jumped up and pushed against him, felt the joints again. Tore them down.

The first one healed up before she got to the third.

Desperation and fear bubbled up inside of her. He was a regenerator. She worked quickly and harshly. Tore him apart, inflicted pain. Tried to make him stop. He just healed and kept going.

She crushed his heart and disconnected the metal frame controlling him. He fell into a heap.

"Yay! Got him!" Bonesaw cheered. She turned around in horror. A metal spider-thing was crouched over Mark, needles pressed into his chest. She smashed it aside with a nearby lamp, but the damage had been done. He was dying from poison.

She reached out to him, started fixing the damage. But she knew it was a temporary thing. She could fix him as much as she wanted, but he was still vulnerable. Bonesaw could just keep sending more monsters against him, or invite the rest of the Nine around. She was just delaying the inevitable.

She could run for it. Leave him to die, warn Victoria and Carol and Uncle Neil and Aunt Sarah and…

And become more like Bonesaw. She couldn't do that. She couldn't live with herself if she did that.

So she broke her rule. She reached into his head. She saw the broken pieces, the flips that needed switching. She fused them back together, rebuilt his memories. Restored all the skills he had lost when he had been damaged.

Mark blinked, and stared at her like he was only just seeing her.

Then he flung one hand out, and the nearest robot was destroyed by an orb of light.

He jumped off the couch, throwing more orbs around him. Spiders exploded, or were crushed against the walls by concussive force. Bonesaw scrabbled away, another monster jumping out in the way. It was large, with long roots for hands. It stomped down the hall towards them, smashing the pictures on the walls as it passed.

Mark didn't back down. He simply kept firing, blasting holes into it as it got closer, backing away to make more room. Always keeping himself between it and Amy.

After an eternity like this, the creation finally fell into a burning heap. Bonesaw had plenty of time to get away. They both stood there, panting for breath. Tears ran down her cheeks.

"Dad. I…" She started to say. But Mark pulled her into a big hug.

"Thank you." He whispered into her ear.

She didn't deserve that. How much pain could've been avoided if she did this earlier?

How many more people might she hurt with this rule now gone?

Mark put her back down, told her to pack. Home wasn't safe anymore; they'd have to go to the Protectorate for help. She nodded silently, stumbled towards her room. Behind her, she could hear Mark on the phone, telling Carol the news.

Shame welled up inside of her.

Then it was overwhelmed by rage.

Blacklight. This was _his_ fault. If he hadn't been so monstrous as to attract two members of the Nine, if he hadn't drawn them here at all, none of this would've happened. She wouldn't have had to break her one rule. She wouldn't have to run the risk of destroying people.

She wouldn't have ever been considered as monstrous as the Nine.

When Mark came to check on her, he found her room empty.

Amy was already running towards Blacklight's territory.

* * *

 _Incredible. Simply incredible._

Ragland knew he had hit a veritable gold mine when he was granted permission to study the Blacklight Gene. A quick test and study already showed that it was on a completely different level from normal biology. But the things it could do, the things _Blacklight_ could accomplish with it, was simply _staggering_. He looked back at the samples and pictures he took of Blacklight's territory. Homes made entirely from the gene; an organic generator, a water filterer; beasts designed solely to transport water from the sea. Simply incredible to think that one simply gene, working alongside billions of its fellows, could accomplish so much.

And people like Piggot wanted to use it as a weapon. A crude and barbaric use of the gene. It was like watching someone using the Mona Lisa or a hadron collider to break stone.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his eyes. He had lost track of time again. It was so easy to do when you were devoting most of your waking hours to learning more about an amazing substance. As was his duty as caretaker of Fireteam Prometheus, he checked up on them quickly. Petra was talking to Fort in the entertainment quarters, both seemingly at ease. He smiled as he saw them chatting away. Ah, young love. Of course, he was still enforcing the rule about no dalliances. Didn't want any bad reactions to happen. In fact, until he got full testing done, he told them all to keep wearing their suits.

Fredrick was sleeping away in his quarters, snoring away and holding onto some contraband adult magazines. He shook his head ruefully. How that man managed to keep getting those things in was beyond him. He noted down a reminder to talk and confiscate the magazine, and kept looking. Grey was in the arena, going through a training mission. He had been a lucky man. If Blacklight hadn't decided to help them, then he'd still be on the table, dying a slow death.

Of course, there were others who hadn't been so lucky. He looked at the camera set up inside Kim Sharpe's quarters. Poor girl; dead on the scene. Blacklight punched right through her, and the gene did the rest. They didn't even have so much as a finger to bury. Beside him on the desk was a set of files containing possible replacements for her.

He hadn't look at them too closely yet. He didn't want to force anyone through the process just yet. Not until he found a way to make it safer, make it symbiotic.

Getting to _there_ would make Piggot happy. But that was just the first step. From there, the gene could be made into something _great_.

But it was slow goings at that.

He would poke and prod the gene, forcing it through different scenarios to try and create a new strain. Most of the time, it danced to his tune. Followed the scenarios and changed. But then it would go berserk, killing off the new genes and evolving to be resistant. As though it was reminding him that it wasn't some dog he could put through its paces.

But he was getting there. Slowly, but surely, he was getting somewhere.

His computer started flashing a distracting red light and making a low rapid beep. He frowned as he turned back to it. There were so many different alerts and warnings that could pop up here, that he couldn't even keep track of them all. Was this an alert of an outbreak? A warning of a failure in his latest test? Some new alert that the team was ignoring a rule or something?

It turned out to be an alert that one of the guards hadn't reported back at his post after a patrol.

He frowned and sighed as he saw it. Damn thing. The guard was probably dawdling or something like that. Or maybe he had joined Petra and Fort. He'd reprimand the man, but he would hardly report it to Piggot.

His comms crackled. "Doctor, Grey here." His rumbling voice came out. Ragland grabbed the comms, pulling it close.

"Hello Grey. Done with your workout now?" He asked.

"Doctor, we have a problem. I've just found one of our guards lying down on the floor. His throat has been slit open."

Ragland frowned as he heard that. Dammit. Someone's infiltrated the building. He sincerely hoped that it wasn't Blacklight. "Understood, Grey. Inform Petra and the others. I'll begin security protocols immediately." He hung up and reached out for the button. The Big Red, the team had called it. Immediate lockdown of the building, and a secondary button _outside_ the facility that would cleanse the compound with fire. Extreme, but necessary. But as his hand hovered over it, he thought he saw something reflected in the wall before him. A white figure, holding one finger up. Waving it. Completely faceless…

He gave a resigned sigh. Oh, just fantastic. Mannequin had broken in.

He'd actually prefer Blacklight in here. At least he could be reasoned with. And make this quick.

"Alright, alright. I'm moving away from the button." He said, raising his hands above his head and rolling away. When he was a good distance from it – far enough that he couldn't reach it before Mannequin reached _him_ – he stopped and turned towards his executioner.

He had heard about Mannequin before. Originally Alan Gramme, a Tinker specialising in biomes, terraforming, and ecosystems. Going under the name Sphere, he had started a project to create biospheres on the moon. A way for people to move to beyond our world, and maybe even further. After that, he said he would find a way to solve world hunger, and build aquatic cities for places suffering from overcrowding. It all sounded too good to be true.

And thanks to an attack by the Simurgh killing his wife and child, it _was_.

He went mad with grief, and became a serial killer focusing on rogues, Tinkers… and people trying to make the world a better place. People who could succeed where _he_ failed.

Ragland knew which category _he_ fitted into.

Mannequin swayed where he stood finger still wagging. His body had been… well, altered was too mild a word. He mutilated himself, replaced almost everything with self-contained limbs. Each connected by chains and other hidden connectors. He was like a puppet, dancing on someone's strings. Of his face, only slight indents marked it out on his face.

Ragland found himself feeling a bit thirsty. It'd be a shame if he died with a parched throat.

"I… I think it's obvious why you're here." He said. Fireteam Prometheus could take Mannequin down. Maybe if he talked, he could keep him busy until they came to check on him. Surely they're wondering why he hadn't engaged the security measures. "You somehow found out about my work. Don't know how you did, though." Mannequin tilted his head. "But I suppose that's not what's important right now."

"We both know I'm nothing special. I'm not a Tinker, I'm not a rogue. I'm just a man chosen to oversee the project. Sure, there will be setbacks. The next men will have to learn anything all over again. But there _will_ be others. This is too big to just ignore, to just throw away. Killing me is going to stop things short-term, at best. Why, I'd imagine that the director already has someone lined up to take my place. If you leave now, you could probably get out before anyone spots you. But if you stay, if you try to kill me… Then I'll at least have the pleasure of taking you with me."

Mannequin responded by extending blades from his arms and legs. Ragland jumped towards the button; hopefully he could hit it with his corpse when he died. Mannequin jumped towards him, moving much faster.

But then the door was smashed open, and smacked into Mannequin, sending him crashing to the ground in pieces. Fireteam Prometheus stood in the doorway, ready for combat.

Ragland smacked into the button, pushing it down before falling off the desk. Alarms blared loudly as panels slammed down over the windows. Prometheus stepped inside as the secondary door slammed shut behind them.

He may have just locked them all in with Mannequin. But at least he won't get out of here.

Being the civilian, he considered it a matter of preservation to cower under his desk like a child.

"Fireteam, surround and engage." Petra ordered. They all spaced out, Fort standing before Ragland to guard him. Mannequin tossed the door aside and pulled himself together. He noted the team, likely saw how they had him outnumbered.

They all knew how this was going to end. They weren't going to try and bring him in alive. A kill order had been placed on all members of Slaughterhouse Nine.

He jumped up to the ceiling, latching on like a lizard. Scurrying towards Ragland's position, he spun as he dropped down again, blades extending as he did so. They raked over the team's armour, he dodged Fort's acid blasts, and then ran him through before somersaulting over.

Unfortunately for Mannequin, that wasn't enough.

Fort grabbed him by the leg and slammed him down, jamming his acid gun against his chest and firing it. Mannequin fired off an electric charge, forcing Fort back as his body spasmed. Mannequin fired his arms at Ragland, the chains holding them melting away. Ragland tried to roll away, but there wasn't a lot of room beneath his desk. One blade pinned his arm against the wall; the other went through his stomach. He yelled in pain as Prometheus engaged. He didn't really see what happened down there, but he didn't need to. Acid dripped on the ground; melted plating followed. He saw Mannequin's leg get pinned by a series of spikes, Grey grabbing him before he could escape again. He slammed his armoured fist against his chest once, twice, three times. It cracked apart, and fluids leaked out everywhere.

And then he kept going, until Mannequin was pounded flat like a pancake.

Things became a bit brighter as his desk was thrown aside, Petra standing over him. "Get this lockdown aborted and a medic in here!" She shouted to someone. "Hang in there, doctor. We'll get you through this."

Everything started getting darker. The pain grew weaker as he felt blood pressing against his side.

"Don't… Don't remove… the blades." He remembered ordering before he passed out. "Can… cause… bleed… out."

* * *

Theo Anders was watching TV when he first felt that something was off. First it had been his little sister Aster crying. Then it had been her being quiet. Likely their foster parents were taking care of her, keeping her quiet and fed or whatever she needed.

After Purity went missing, he and Aster had been taken into Child Care. They started doing that _before_ , but at least now Purity wasn't around to try and take them back.

But then he heard a dripping sound. He turned round to see a dark liquid flowing out into the hallway. Curious, he had gone to have a look at it.

He rounded the corner to see his foster mother hanging by her ankle, blood dripping from her slashed throat.

Theo had seen enough horror films to know to get out pronto. But as he ran towards Aster's room, he stumbled over something. His foster father. Except that he was missing his head.

But if they were dead, then who was keeping Aster quiet?

He peeked into the room, saw a man standing over her and tickling her with his index finger. He was the kind of man that girls considered handsome, with slicked back long dark hair and a little trimmed beard. He wore tight jeans, and a white shirt.

In his free hand was a bloody knife.

Theo nearly gulped aloud. Jack Slash. Jack Slash was in his house, with his little sister.

This was a good time to run. He knew he'd hate himself forever for leaving his sister to die, but there was nothing he could do. Even if he _could_ somehow distract Jack Slash and lead him away, grab Aster, and then make it out without being seen… Well, just one of those would be tricky. And if he got spotted, forget about running away. Jack Slash could just extend the edge of his blade, cut him down before he took three steps. No, he couldn't help her. He had to get himself to safety. He had to warn people.

He took a single step back, and something went crunch under his foot. There was pain, and he had to clamp a hand over his mouth to stop from screaming. He glanced down; his foster father's glasses lay shattered under his foot. Glass and blood was everywhere.

He was just about to pray that Jack didn't hear anything when he peeked round the corner. The hand with the knife swayed before him, at ease and calm. He smirked as he spotted Theo.

"There we go." He said calmly, like Theo was an old friend of his. "Wondered if I'd catch anyone with that old trick. Glad to see that I did; I'd feel a bit embarrassed if someone noticed the glasses right there." Theo stood stock still, ignoring the pain. If he tried to run, Jack would cut him down before he even started moving. By standing still, maybe he could avoid setting him off. "Well, don't just keep standing out there, boy. Get in here and check up on your sister. Little monster made a mess, and I don't change babies. Kill them, yes. But I don't do nappies." His tone was still civil, but he had stopped spinning the knife around. Holding it still.

The implications were clear.

Theo nodded shakily, and limbed inside. Aster's face was crunched up, a sure sign she was about to have a tantrum. And it might be enough to set Jack off, get him to start killing. He started trying to calm her down, grabbing the new nappy and getting to work. He hoped that it wouldn't be too smelly, hoped that it wouldn't waft towards Jack.

As he worked, Jack started talking. "Now, a bright kid like you is probably wondering what I'm doing here? 'Why would the great Jack Slash be doing in this little home, talking to someone like me?'" he kicked at a dark heap in the corner. "Well, I was originally here to recruit. Grab some new members. We make it a bit of a game; have everyone pick out a target, and see if they're up to snuff. Sometimes they survive; most times, they don't."

"My choice was a lovely little thing. Already broken inside, a ferocious beast that can carve a man in seconds. Sounds perfect for our little band. So I killed her hubby to get her riled up, ready for a fight. Some bland guy dressed in grey. Think his name was Fog, or something like that."

Fog. A former teammate of Purity's. Then that meant… He glanced at the heap again. If he strained his eyes, he could _just_ make out a face…

"I even turned away to let her get changed; make things fairer. She put up a good fight, but I managed to win in the end. Since she failed, she had to die. Them the rules. So now I'm left with nothing to do while the others start having some fun." He snapped his fingers. "But then I remembered something I read. Kaiser's kid was put into a foster home a while back. There aren't many parahuman kids in this city; at least not ones that haven't joined the Wards yet." He shook his head ruefully. "Silly idea, really. A junior league of heroes, meant to make the world a better place. No seems to have any problems with the fact that they're putting minors into deadly situations. And they call _me_ a monster."

Theo had finished changing Aster, and now had her resting against his shoulder. He jostled her a bit, trying his best to keep her quiet.

"Now, where was I?" Jack wondered.

"You were saying why you came to see me personally, Sir." Theo replied.

"Ooh, you're a polite one aren't you? But yes, I came to see _you_. See, I'm always thinking about all the lives I've impacted. The futures I change." He waved his knife into the hallway. "Take these two, for example. What would they have done if I hadn't arrived here tonight? How many other kids would they have looked after? How many kids would their kindness touch, turn away from being bad? How many potential heroes have I killed off or twisted before they even knew they were heroes? That's what _I'm_ interested in. Seeing just how many lives I can ruin from a few small acts." He pointed the knife at Theo. "So you and I are going to play a little game. You're a third generation parahuman; that means that you're _certain_ to gain some powers. All you need to do is gain those lovely powers and kill me before you're officially a man. How old are you, boy?"

"Fif…Fifteen, Sir."

"Two years. Two years for you to do that. If you win, then well done. You get a pat on the back for killing one of the scariest people on the planet. But if you fail, if you don't get your powers, if you don't get strong enough to kill me? How many lives will you affect in your life? Dozens? Hundreds? A thousand?" he nodded. "Yeah, I'd say a thousand at least. So, if you fail, I'll kill nine hundred and ninety-nine people in your name. Your dear sister will be the nine hundred and ninety-ninth. And then you'll be Mr. One thousand."

A thousand people? It was such a huge number, something he almost couldn't imagine. So many people dead. And he didn't have any say in the matter. If he refused, Jack could very well kill those thousand people today.

There was only one option available to him.

He looked Jack in the eye, glaring at him. "I _will_ kill you. I will bring you down for everything you've done."

Jack smirked at him. "Good boy. Your time limit starts the moment I leave this building. Better get started." And he walked out the room, pausing only long enough to grab Night as he passed. He hummed a jaunty tune as he left.

Theo didn't react until he heard the door slam shut behind him. Then he placed Aster on the table and fell to the ground. He felt like his heart would burst.

Two years. Two years to gain powers, train, and kill Jack. A man who survived everything people had already thrown at him.

A fierce determination burned within him. He wasn't going to lie down and feel sorry for himself. He was going to _do_ something. He pulled himself to his feet, and stumbled towards the phone.

He had to call the PRT. He had to get their help.

* * *

Jon Chung had done good work before. When the Siberian had attacked, he had led people down into one of the shelters. She had left shortly afterwards, but he still considered what he did to be good work. If he hadn't led people there, then it was likely that Siberian _would've_ attacked. Athena herself had congratulated him for his quick actions.

So now here he was, standing outside Blacklight's throne room with at least five other people. Good people, hardworking people. Former Merchants and victims and newcomers alike. People who had gathered under Blacklight's protection, and were ready to fight to defend their new homes. They stood there, waiting for the moment Blacklight would let them in… and they would become his enforcers. His knights, Athena had called them.

They had been waiting for seven minutes now.

"Do you think they've forgotten about us?" The young woman next to him asked. "Or that maybe this is all some prank of theirs?"

"Could be a test." Someone else said. A tall man, lanky and thin. "Gather us here, make us wait, see who sticks around and who leaves."

Another man, shorter and wider, scoffed. "Well, if we have to wait for ten minutes, then I'm leaving no matter what. We shouldn't have to do this big ceremony bullshit just to become enforcers. Why couldn't he just have Athena swear us in and be done with it? Hand us out a badge or something?"

"Our reasons are not to wonder why." Jon said. "He has granted us safety and supplies in this troubled time, without asking anything in return. It is only fair that we sit and wait." Some of the others grumbled, but they all kept standing.

Fortunately, it only took another minute before the doors opened before them. They were giant things, heavy too. There was a sculpture on the front; some kind of monster, similar to the large beasts outside. Shrugging his shoulders, Jon led the others inside. They entered a large ornate room, all black and red. Light streamed through the large stain-glass windows on the walls, bathing the room in red light. At the far end of the room, sitting on a large tall throne, was Blacklight. Athena sat beside him, on a smaller throne. Two armatures extended before her, likely a screen of some kind.

The six of them kept marching forward, until they stood before them. Then, Jon knelt before Blacklight. The others looked at him in confusion. Blacklight shifted, as though he was uncomfortable.

"You don't have to kneel." He said tersely. Jon got to his feet again, standing ramrod straight. Blacklight shifted forward, leaning towards them. "Alright then. You lot know why you're all here. I need lieutenants, and Athena and I agree that you lot fit the bill. But before we begin, there's some things I need to go over with you." Jon nodded; he was willing to wait, and listen. After all, Blacklight thought it was important.

"First off, we should do some introductions. Just so that we all know _why_ we chose you." Blacklight turned to Athena; the six of them followed suit.

She looked up, and nodded. "Ok then." She cleared her throat, and tapped something. A light shined down on the woman furthest away. She was of stocky build, looked rather mannish. She had long red hair, one side shorn. There was _some_ beauty there, but it was hard to see through all the muscle. "Jean Kenneth. You were part of a team heading into the city to recover furniture and necessities from peoples' homes. Along the way, your team came under attack by surviving Merchants. You immediately moved to stop them, and protected a woman with a limp. Took out most of the team through being an intimidating warrior. Scared them off by yourself. Our Hunters gave chase, and you protected the others from a _second_ team trying to ambush you." Athena nodded. "Good job. You saved some lives during that."

Jean nodded. "Always hated the Merchants. Was glad to pound some heads in."

Athena nodded again, the light moving to the next person. The tall man from before. "Mathieu Vance. Before you moved here, you lived in an area considered safe. Until the Merchants showed up and attacked the house next to you. A mother and her daughter, father divorced and living elsewhere. You _could've_ run away; got yourself to safety while they were distracted. Instead, you grabbed a baseball bat and charged in, attacking the Merchants and getting your neighbours to safety. Then you ran, and you've been on the run since then."

He nodded. "Spent some time in Chosen territory. Kept out most of the Merchants.

The light moved to the next person in line. The short man. "Jonah Bennet. You too were living at home when the Merchants game to seize it. Instead of running, surrendering, or joining, you instead laid siege to them and kept the Merchants away for four days straight. They lost dozens of men, and they never took an inch. It was only when they threw Molotovs at you that you final ran."

Jonah shrugged. "I would've beaten out the fires and kept going. But I had some explosives in a chest. Fires started spreading to them."

"Yeah, we figured that out when the house exploded."

"Well, I wasn't gonna let some ratty bastards chase me outta my home and take my shit. I figured it was time to show them that they're not as scary as they thought." He nodded to Blacklight. "Good job finishing them off, boss. Liked watching them run."

"Glad to hear it." Blacklight responded. The light moved again. Another man. Dark skinned, stocky. "Greg Nate. Another who defended the team of civilians with him. Volunteered to be their guard; brought everyone back safe and sound after the Chosen tried to attack. Even managed to help the team's beast drive off Cricket.' She looked at Greg. "You're a brave motherfucker, aren't you?"

"I don't know about _brave_. My friends always called me the Leeroy." Greg explained, a wry grin on his face. "I'm the kind of guy who picks a fight with something bigger than me just because they're hurting someone. They even said that if Behemoth showed up, I'd charge right in with an axe and punch him in the balls before I realise who it is."

"Well after this, you should be able to survive your 'bad decisions'." Next was the woman standing next to Chung. A slim thing, also of Asian descent. "Natsumi No. According to our reports, you…" She coughed slightly. "Erhem, used your feminine wiles to convince the Merchants team that attacked you to leave your best friend go. Offered your body to him and his team, and managed to… tire them out before grabbing a knife and slitting their throats." If Jon had to guess, Athena was blushing under her helmet. He knew _he_ was, and he had seen many women offer their bodies to escape pain and torture, and gain status. "Doing it once was… kinda heroic. Using your body to get close to other teams, though? Do the same thing? Blacklight and I agree that _that_ was damn brave."

Natsumi bowed. "Thank you, ma'am. I just hope I'm remembered for more than just sleeping around though."

"So do I." Blacklight said. The light moved to Jon. He suddenly felt rather sweaty. Compared to the others, his deeds weren't quite as heroic. He may have saved some lives while in the Merchants, but for everyone he saved there were at least three or five he _couldn't_. And since leaving the Merchants, all he did was act as local police.

"And finally, Jon Chung. Forced to join the Merchants for protection, he worked his way up the chain so he could be in a position to help the victims of the Merchants. Ever since their dissolve, he's been helping police New Olympus and deal with the problems Blacklight and I don't notice." She nodded to him. "I know that tempers are high with all that's been going on, and Blacklight doesn't always know when there's trouble going on. Every little bit you do helps out so much."

Jon felt his throat become very dry. He nodded back. "Thank you, ma'am. I am honoured to be helping in any way."

Natsumi bumped her elbow into his side. "At least you weren't chosen for sleeping with people." She said with a grin.

Blacklight rapped his knuckles against his armrest. "Ok. We all know why you were all chosen. Now we need to talk about serious matters."

"Like if we're being supported by capes?" Greg asked. "Because even with your beasts, they're still going to tear through us if they give us a moment's attention."

"You'll be supported in a sense." He said evasively. "And don't interrupt me again. Now, you all are probably aware of my powers. I can move faster, hit harder, survive hits that would kill others, form weapons from my body, and create biological tools and creations. What you _don't_ know is that these powers are _not_ because I'm a parahuman. Because I'm not. I'm a bioweapon that _appears_ human-like." He held out his arm, and the armour shifted away. It had changed into a large meaty… _thing_ resembling the general shape of an arm. But one that had been grinded into paste inside a crusher. Or a wood chipper. The armour reformed, hiding the arm again. "Every last cell of my body is constructed from a virus, working together to form a humanoid shape and appearance. The upside of this though? It means that my abilities can be gifted to others. At the most basic level, I can use it augment you. To change you into the peak of human potential, and maybe even surpass it. But I'm offering something different. You will need to be _stronger_ than human to fend off possible threats."

"To that end, I want to make you like _me_." The six of them looked at each other in shock and surprise. Jean and Jonah looked a little green; Mathieu was sweating.

"What's the catch?" Natsumi asked suddenly. "I mean, there _has_ to be a catch, right? You wouldn't be acting so serious otherwise."

"There _is_ a catch." Athena said. "In order to make you guys strong enough, the Virus is going to take you apart on a cellular level, and replace the consumed cells with more of itself. In layman terms, it's going to kill you and make a complete copy of you in your place. It'll have all your memories and thoughts; but you're still kinda… you know…"

"Dying?" Greg offered.

"You won't feel much." Blacklight said. "The process only takes a few seconds to complete. From your perspective, you'll have just passed out."

"But something _else_ is gonna take our place." Jonah pointed out.

Blacklight shrugged. "I could go on about some philosophical crap about whether or not a copy is a real person, or whether your souls will live on, or something like that. But the bottom line is that if they remember what you remember, think what you think, and act like you would act, then they _are_ you."

"What if it doesn't work?" Mathieu asked.

"The process _will_ work. The strain inside of me has mastered the process. You'll _all_ be reborn successfully."

"What are the advantages and disadvantages of our new forms?" Jon asked. He was going through with it; he would finally be strong enough to stop the people who threatened him. Help defend his city, and clean up the monsters that roamed it.

"The advantages can easily be considered worth the price. You'll show many of the same abilities as I have. Not all of them though; that won't end well when someone decides to take over. You'll survive lethal wounds with ease; if you are ever injured to the point of death, you can just gather more biomass to heal. You can do that by eating something organic. Anything. And you'll all be hooked up to a Hive Mind. From there, you can command the lesser creations through thought, learn what they learn almost instantaneously. And thanks to the Hive Mind, if someone out there _were_ to kill you, it can load your mind into another Infected form. It will recreate you from nothing." He held out a hand, and several pedestals grew out of the ground next to him. On each was a head, marked with a different symbol. "And of course, thanks to your new physiology, I can load parahuman powers into your cerebral cortex."

"In non-nerd speak, he can grant you any power he's harvested. Only one of each, but that's still pretty damn useful." Athena explained. Jon could see the others glancing at each other. It was certainly a damn fine offer. No more worrying about dying; and they could finally become capes themselves.

Blacklight had been right. They _would_ be supported by capes in a sense.

"Of course, there _are_ some disadvantages." Blacklight continued. "You won't be able to swim anymore; your density will be far too great, and you'll just sink to the bottom. If the PRT manage to create a… unique type of scanner, they can detect the Virus making up your bodies. And there's also a more selfish disadvantage."

"You already mentioned it." Natsumi said. "You don't want us as strong as you so we don't try and take over."

Blacklight shook his head. "There's that too, but this is more if _my_ body ends up destroyed. The Hive Mind allows you to be reborn in any Infected body; but so can I. And I place myself as higher priority than you."

"Meaning that if you die, and we're the only ones in the area, you'll possess us." Greg guessed.

He shrugged. "You'll be reborn in my territory if it makes you feel any better."

"And there's also the fact that you're made completely out of a potentially deadly virus. So no sex anymore."

"You can live without that." Blacklight said tersely. "So then, we've gone over this. Time to make a choice. You'll still be my lieutenants if you refuse, but know that anything that wants to cause trouble with me will have no trouble killing a normal human."

They stood there silently, likely still debating whether or not the process was worth it. Jonah shook his head and stepped back. Mathieu did the same. But Jon took a single step forward; Natsumi joined him. Jean and Greg shrugged, and stepped forward too.

Blacklight nodded. "Alright then. Jonah, I want you to go and organise our munitions stores. I know I've got organic weapons, but I'd still prefer to have guns in case someone's got an immunity to my creations. Your codename will be Ares."

"My choice." Athena said. "Where we came from, the guys that made Blacklight called him Zeus. Thought I'd go with a Greek theme to match it."

Jonah nodded. "Sure thing boss." And he turned and walked away.

"Mathieu. Your job is to organise a police force. Find people you're willing to trust, people who are interested in a pay check. You'll be going under the codename Themis."

"Yes sir." Mathieu followed Jonah out. As soon as they left, the door slammed shut again. Blacklight stood up before them.

"Whatever you do, don't panic. The adrenaline's always a bitch to work through." He said. The floor beneath them started rising, forming a pod around them. The air filled with some kind of dust, but Jon didn't start coughing from it. As he breathed in, a dull pain started up in his chest. It spread outwards to his limbs, and the world started getting darker.

When he came to, he was still in the pod. But nothing ached anymore. He heard Blacklight snap his fingers, and the pod melted away. He landed on his feet, feeling energised. He could see that the others were much the same. Athena and Blacklight nodded at them.

"Welcome to my pantheon." He said to them.

* * *

Jack Slash stood on a balcony, looking out upon the city. Areas of the city alternated between lit up, and completely dark. Those who had light, who had power, and those who didn't. In the room behind him, the rest of the Nine had gathered. Only one still missing was Mannequin; he went off to attack some scientist in the PRT. Mostly obvious fate was that he didn't make it.

No matter. That just meant that they had enough room for _two_ new members.

"Everything's finally fallen into place." He said to himself. "Now the games shall begin.

* * *

 **And like the man said, the games shall begin. Only they're already not going the way Jack probably wanted.**

 **Yes, I killed off Mannequin already. And Night, and Fog (Jack busted into the PRT to get Night). Ragland's been wounded; going to flip a coin on whether or not he survives. Sorry if Mannequin's death was too anti-climactic, but when you're seeing it from under a desk, you kinda miss the finer details. Plus, that is some strong acid Fort has.**

 **Made some new OCs for Alex's team. Going to name them all after Greek gods, to try and stick to a theme. Most of them I'm choosing as I go along. Felt it would make sense not to have** _ **everyone**_ **become Evolved to begin with; after all, they're going to die and be resurrected. That would be pretty scary. But when – or** _ **if**_ **– Jonah ever evolves, I'm definitely giving him Lung's power. That's an Ares power if I ever saw one.**

 **And yeah, Amy has a hate-on for Alex. I figured that quite a few members would want to go for Alex. Siberian because Alex is a monster, Bonesaw because he can alter the human body (imagine her with his kind of power. Brrr. Scary.) Crawler would be interested because he'd want to see if Alex could kill him to try and make himself stronger. And since I ended up cutting out some of their original choices, I had to spread them out a bit.**

 **And yeah, no one responded to my questions, so I did the best I could. I still don't really get why Jack showed up at Purity's place in canon, so I had to make up some guesses.**

 **Hope you guys all enjoy this.**


	12. Step 12 - Play By Your Own Damn Rules

**Hey there. Sorry it's been a week or so since I last posted. Got back from my holiday last Sunday, and had to do all the things you** _ **have**_ **to do when you've been away for ten days. Get up to date on Destiny, mow the lawn, go to work, download some new stuff, play more games, play some movies.**

 **And I also had to replace my laptop.**

 **See, my laptop is bit on the old side. And a while back (like a couple of years ago) the battery stopped working. Wouldn't hold a charge. Had it replaced; still didn't work. So I decided that it still worked well enough as long as I had it plugged in, and I could keep using it.**

 **Then while on holiday, we had a power cut for five and a half hours. And I couldn't use my laptop at all during that time. Well, that kinda defeats the point of having a laptop.**

 **I had saved some money while I was on holiday, and so the next week I went into town and bought a new one. And then I had to download stuff onto** _ **that**_ **.**

 **But here we are, with a new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Step 12 – Play by Your Own Damn Rules**

Word quickly spread about Slaughterhouse Nine. About how they had finally arrived and began their rampage of terror. Regent, Coil, and Blacklight all got a visit from one member of the Nine each. So did the PRT, and Hookwolf. As far as we can tell, they're recruiting. Win, and you get forced into a group of monsters and hunted for the rest of your days.

Lose, and you suffer and even _worse_ fate.

So here we were, travelling by two boats across the lake Leviathan made to a lone patch of land, cut off from everything else by fallen buildings and rubble. The lake was the only way in _or_ out. Perfect for letting us talk about the Nine without them sneaking up on us.

Hopefully.

I looked over to my right, watching Blacklight as he flew next to us. His armour was lit up bright, almost blinding. Streaks and patches of black showed through, the material something that _didn't_ change. Two large leathery wings grew from his back, flapping every now and then to give the illusion of unpowered flight.

It was obvious why no one had heard anything about Purity now.

"Everything ok in your territory?" I practically yelled at him, trying to be heard over the sound of the engine. He turned his head slightly, my goggles saving me from getting spots in my eyes. "Siberian didn't kill anyone?"

He shook his head. "Just told me that she wanted to recruit me. Got people to the shelters before she tried anything. Now I've got heavier fortifications in place in case any of them make a repeat appearance."

"I thought she didn't talk at all." That was one of the rumours about her. She never said a word. She was an animal on two legs. There were so many reasons people had on why she never spoke."

"She talks. It probably is that no one survives to repeat anything." He tilted away slightly. "Better be professional now. There are already some people waiting."

He was right. Three flashes blinked at the dock, followed by two. Alex raised a hand, flashed it twice then twice again. One flash in response. Blacklight pulled ahead on us, landing softly as we slowed down. Two of Coil's men hopped out of the boats, tying them to rods of rebar stabbed into the ground. We hopped out after them, and headed further inward. Cricket was waiting for us, flashlight in hand. She nodded, and led the way. Someone had already cleared a path through the wreckage, several holes in the buildings making a tunnel.

We came out the other side to a 'room' in one of the towers. Everyone else was already waiting.

Hookwolf had most of his Chosen standing to attention, acting as scouts and lookout. Faultline stood by one wall, covered in more concealing clothes than before. I sort of wondered how they had gotten on after Blacklight had given them whatever they had been after. Did they find out what they were looking for?

Coil and the Travellers were standing at the other end of the room. We moved closer to them, while Blacklight cleared his own space. He looked at the large number of capes in Hookwolf's entourage. His body shifted, growing wider and thicker. Then it split into three slimmer piles. The center pile took on his appearance again.

The two outer piles though, took on _new_ appearances.

The one to his left grew shorter and slimmer, his armour growing slender curved spines around the joints. Murals of the sun started forming over the chest, arms and legs, sticking out slightly like a 3D picture. Two large spines grew from his lower arms, sticking out backwards from his elbows. Three holes just before his hands, like a wrist launcher. The featureless face plate was replaced by a different mask, resembling a human face. Half of a sun covered the right side of his face. Two horns curled round from the back, twining like a laurel wreath.

The figure on his _right_ was also shorter and slimmer, though it had grown feminine curves. She too had a similar structure to the other, though her armour was covered in moons, and the mask had a moon on the _left_ side of her face. And the 'guns' on her wrists were molded differently. Spikes stuck out the end, a long end poking up her arm. Two pieces of hardened biomass were folded out, forming a bow or crossbow of some kind.

We all stepped back slightly in surprise. The others because they weren't expecting him to be capable of doing that; and me and Tattletale because we weren't aware that he was going to separate himself like that again. Why did he want to make himself seem to have lackeys as well?

The two other Blacklights moved forward and bowed towards him. "Artemis and Apollo, reporting for duty, Sir."

Wait. Artemis and Apollo? What was with the fancy titles?

"Is there a reason you're trying to show off your cloning powers, Blacklight?" Coil asked, sounding amused. But… Well, if I were him, I'd be scared. One Blacklight was too much. Three of him would be overkill.

"They're not clones." Blacklight responded. "Before the Nine showed up, I had started recruiting lieutenants to help manage my claimed territory. All I did was transfer them from my lair to here. If we're going to have a pissing contest over how many capes we've got working for us, then I'd prefer not to be left out. Might make you lot think you're tough enough to fuck with me."

He… He got… Holy shit. He's got some way of making more people like _him_? And having them appear by his side whenever he wanted? How could he even _do_ that?

There was still so much about his powers that we didn't know about.

"I… see." Coil said. "So if we're all done trying to one up each other, perhaps we could get to the matter at hand?"

"In a minute." Hookwolf said. "We're still waiting on people. And I've got a few grievances to air first." He nodded to Stormtiger, who pulled out a flare and fired it straight up. I saw Artemis and Apollo readying their weapons. Apollo's arm-mounted barrels twisted forward, and Artemis raised her crossbows. I saw Blacklight's claws lengthening.

Faultline also looked ready for a fight. "If this is an attempt to call in the Nine, you won't survive the night, Hookwolf."

He smirked back at her. "Hardly that. I'm just calling some _other_ people who are interested in stopping them." There was the sound of a motorboat engine, and then footsteps on the rubble. I had a few of my bugs land on the people approaching. Too few to be the Nine, though they could've sent only _some_ of their members.

Miss Militia stepped out through the tunnel, followed by Battery, Triumph, Clockblocker, and Weld. The Protectorate were attending too. Of course they would. The Nine are among their most notorious targets. They'd accept _any_ help in taking them down for good.

Hookwolf gave a short nod to Miss Militia as her group joined the party.

"Is this everyone?" She asked him, looking at the group. Behind her, I noticed four more members waiting by the tunnel, standing guard. They were dressed up in white armour, with various bits attached to them. One of them held something in his arms. It was hard to make out from here. "Can we get to business then?"

"We just got a complaint to address first." Hookwolf replied. He pointed at _us_. "The Undersiders and the Travellers have been taking over while we've all been pulling ourselves back together again. Grue's been scaring off my boys in the upper Downtown areas; Bitch's dogs have been heard in the trainyards; Regent's been sighted over in the college neighbourhoods; Swarm's completely taken over the Boardwalks; Ballistics' been shooting off everything he can get his hands on north of here; Sundancer's been spotted in the shopping district; Genesis at the downtown coast; Trickster's taken over the heart of Downtown; and I'm willing to bet that Tattletale's all nice and set up in the Docks." He turned to point at Blacklight. "And we've all seen that eyesore you call a base."

"You're just pissed because I'm not operating out of an abandoned warehouse like your boys are." He replied.

"Hookwolf, we're already aware that they've been taking territory. Right now, we need to focus on more…"

"This _is_ important. Maybe not now, but you can bet your ass that we'll be regretting all this in a month or two when we can't dislodge these fucking ticks. I bet that they've been working even harder ever since the Nine showed up. Catch us while our pants are down." He crossed his arms angrily. "We need to make sure they're not gonna try and steal more of our turf while we're off fighting the Nine. I say we have them stay away from their territories until the Nine are dealt with."

Stay away? Did he mean we should be moved into a base or something? Leave our people to fend for themselves? To be prey for the Nine?

I don't think so.

"Are you fucking retarded, Hookwolf?" Blacklight growled. "You're seriously wasting our time with shit like this when Slaughterhouse Nine are in the city? Fuck you." He turned to Miss Militia. "There are hundreds of people grouped up in our territories. The PRT and the Protectorate are too busy to look after them, or else you wouldn't let us be. You take us away and put us somewhere else, you're leaving them vulnerable to the Nine. This isn't going to help. It's just Hookwolf being a whiny little bitch."

She frowned. "Despite your… choice of words, you make some good points. But the Nine are too important to waste time debating about territories. You'll all just have to play nice until we deal with them. The likely loss of life or injuries incurred _should_ keep anyone from starting anything."

"But we'll be leaving them in an _advantageous_ situation." Hookwolf stressed.

"A compromise then. _All_ the capes of every group present here would move into neutral territory until the Nine are dealt with. No one can give orders to attack, or try to claim territory. Does _that_ sound fair?"

"No." He replied angrily. "We'll be sitting ducks for the Nine to…"

Alex slammed his fists together. Not hard enough to blast us all away, but definitely enough to make us stumble. Hookwolf and Miss Militia stopped arguing.

"How about this for a plan? You lot tell me everything you know about the Nine, and _I'll_ kill them all for you. The rest of you can go fuck off or screw each other or whatever you do while I'm busy."

"Killing the Nine isn't gonna be like taking on Skidmark and his shitty band of capes." Hookwolf argued back. "They're monsters."

"So am I. They tried to _recruit_ me, remember?"

"Then…"

"Shut up. If I wanted to join them, I'd just kill the lot of you and bring your heads to them for admission." He turned to look at the four guards. "Your freaks over there know I could do it if I wanted to."

"Shut up, Blacklight." One of them – the lone woman – replied. She turned to the others. "He has a point though. He survived everything we threw at him. He could handle whatever the Nine use against him." She shrugged. "And if he doesn't, then there's one less villain in the city. Win-win."

Hookwolf fixed her with a glare. "And just who the hell are you?"

"Captain Sanderson, leader of Prometheus." Miss Militia replied for her. "They're going to be our Slaughterhouse response team. They've already proven themselves against one member." The larger man on their team stepped forward, dropping the dented thing on the ground.

It was a white torso, cracked and melted to an empty husk.

Mannequin.

"The Nine have incredibly dangerous powers, but from a defensive point of view only Crawler and Siberian have anything to help. Our team, working with Blacklight, could take their more vulnerable members within three days, maybe even less." Captain Sanderson said. "From there, we can focus on either killing the last two, or at least driving them out of the city."

"In that case, I'd like to volunteer some very important information." Coil said. "According to a source of mine, Jack Slash is the key target. If he makes it out of Brockton Bay, it will bode ill for everyone."

"That's annoyingly ominous." Triumph replied.

"The last time I heard someone say 'bode ill', it was about a bioweapon." Blacklight mused. "How dangerous are we talking about here, Coil?"

"My source has been a bit vague on some of the details. But from what she's told me, he's the catalyst of the end of the world. If he makes it out of here alive, he will meet, talk, kill or influence someone. That single action will lead to a series of events that will result in anywhere thirty-three to ninety-six percent of the world's population."

Everyone stared at him in shock and surprise.

"If he dies, then the events will happen at some point in the near-distant future instead."

Blacklight nodded. "So it's someone _outside_ the city. It won't be from someone already here?"

"I'm afraid that I don't know. And my source is currently out of commission."

"In that case, I'm doing this alone."

"You can't be serious." Sanderson said.

"I am. My power could fit the bill, and I'm the _only_ one here who actually knows what I'm fully capable of. Artemis, Apollo; return to base and keep it on lockdown. No one gets in or out until Jack Slash is confirmed dead." His capes nodded, and re-fused with his body.

"I want _everything_ you know about them. Especially Jack Slash, Crawler, and Siberian."

* * *

Amy was walking into Hell itself.

At least, that was how she felt, heading into Blacklight's territory.

The outermost reaches of his new territory weren't too bad. They looked normal, if a bit ravaged. But as far as she could tell, she was the only one there. There was no other sign of life, apart from little monsters he must've created. She shuddered as she saw one scurry past. It turned to look at her, before moving away. It made her think of Bonesaw's creations; things made of meat and bone that just _shouldn't_ exist.

Well, once she got her hands on his skin, they won't ever work together again. Maybe hit him with a plague, or make his heart stop, or make his brain explode inside his skull. She had already broken her most important rule; surely getting revenge… I mean, _stopping_ him from joining the Nine was important enough to forget about her rules.

Just for once.

But her bravado started fading as she actually got near to his base, actually causing her to grind to a halt at the edge of the street right before it. The ground on the opposite side of the road was covered in a layer of… something. Molded to resemble concrete. Large towers and walls surrounded it, an obvious thorax moving around and lighting the place up. Two giant monsters stood on either side of the entrance, looking like they were ready to tear her limb from limb.

It all may have _looked_ normal, but she knew he was a biological Tinker. The ground was probably made of flesh, or a meat moss, or something equally gross and perverse.

And now that she stood at his front door, she wasn't even sure how she was going to get _in._

A sobbing laugh erupted from her mouth, one hand trying to hide it. This was insane. What was she thinking? That she could somehow sneak into the heart of his base, kill him, and then make it out? She was a healer, not a damn fighter. If one of those monsters took a swipe at her before she could destroy them, she'd end up dead. This was madness.

But then a crowd of people started approaching, and she found her way in.

The crowd came to a halt before the monsters, wrapped in rags and carrying bags. Amy snuck into the crowd, gently pushing her way into the centre of it. Maybe being surrounded by all these people would make the monsters think she was one of them. She trembled as they approached, lumbering over and sniffing them. Two tendrils rose up from their back, eyes attached to them. It almost seemed to glare at her, and she actually felt her knees knocking. But they stepped aside and let them past unharmed. Then two large gates closed behind them, and she was cut off from the world.

No problem. Once she had killed Blacklight, she'll just use her power to make a hole in the wall and escape _that_ way.

She was actually amazed by just _how many_ people there were in here. And how normal it all looked. These people were like the citizens living in the wealthier parts of the city; well dressed and apparently living with water and power. Everyone else had to scavenge for what they needed, but these people… Yeah, these people were being handed all that on a silver platter. She saw people lining up outside a store, walking away with food packages. One person she passed had a small lizard following him, coming to a stop before another group. The lizard continued into the center of the ground, curled up, and started glowing red. The men pulled out marshmallows and started roasting them over the lizard's back.

Unbelievable that he had all this from organic creations.

She shook her head. This wasn't the time to be gazing at monsters. The longer she spent in here, the more likely someone might decide to attack her. Or she might get found out. Walking with purpose, she headed towards the base itself. A nightmarish castle devoted to a sick monster.

To her surprise, the front gate was slightly ajar. Enough for someone skinny like her to squeeze through. She grimaced as she felt the organic senses of the door through her power. Muscles acting like hinges, opening and closing the door on command. Cheap theatrics to wow the stupid. She managed to get through, and found herself in a large hallway. No, not large. Massive. Big enough for Leviathan to walk down.

Or a Leviathan _Killer_.

Oh god, please don't let that thing be his creation.

She kept sneaking down the hallways, pushing herself onwards instead of letting her mind realise how completely goddamn _stupid_ this whole thing is. The whole place was completely deserted. She didn't encounter a single guard on her way through. Was he really expecting those monsters at the front gate to deal with any threat? Or was he just so arrogant that he didn't expect anyone to make it this far? Whatever it was, it was working for her. She had made it to another set of massive doors, also left slightly ajar. She peeked through the gap.

Inside were four costumed people, wearing similar outfits to Blacklight. Likely some super suit he created for them. They were standing about, or lying on the floor, or in one case sitting on a chair fused to the ground. They didn't look all that alert.

Two of them – a man and a woman – suddenly sat up alert, hand pressed against their ear. They both nodded, and then somehow sunk into the ground. In their place rose up Blacklight himself, standing like a dark tyrant of nightmares. He shook his head, and his armour started melting away.

There. That was her chance. His skin was bared, and he was obviously not expecting an attack. Before the rational side of her said anything, she started running. Blacklight turned at the sound of her footsteps, but didn't armour himself up again. She yelled in anger as she got near him, pressing both hands against his chest. Her powers lit up, and she reached out to his body.

No bones. No muscle. No blood, or organs, or proper flesh. Millions upon millions of fake cells. Something else, something… horrifying. She picked up the body of a rat mixed in with him, saw his cells close in like sharks to blood. Her power showed her in disgusting detail as they tore into the rat, entering its cells and eating away at them. Splitting, and growing, and changing. Making more and more and _more_. Her power studied them in action, studied what they could do. How easily they could _kill_.

In desperation, she reached out for _anything_ like a brain. Instead, millions of images assaulted her mind. Flashes after flashes after flashes. People dying, people being tortured, people being murdered, people being _eaten_.

A virus. His whole body was made up of a virus that was beyond anything she could imagine. Beyond her worst nightmares.

When she pulled away, she finally heard herself screaming. Blacklight stared at her, and then something was wrapping around her body. Pulling her under.

And then she went under, felt the virus flowing around her like water. Felt it squirming and touching and… and…

She kept screaming until she mercifully passed out.

* * *

"Not one of our better meetings, was it?" Swarm said as they returned to shore after the meeting. Unable to find any _real_ fault with his plan – and likely keen to let him kill himself stopping the Nine – everyone else had shared plenty of information about the Nine. Most of it was simply about how dangerous they were. The bit about how Shatterbird's power could be cancelled by a certain frequency was useful though. He'll have to listen to Cricket again, see if he can replicate that same frequency. Lure her into a trap, surround her with Infected making noises, and then she'll be an easier target. The others were simply a matter of weathering their attacks long enough to get within range. Rip them apart, take their shards. Easy. Crawler and Siberian were going to be the biggest problems.

He would have to avoid them until he gained more data on them.

"We should make some plans." Grue said. "We're going to be vulnerable while this is all happening, and I want contingency plans for if we come under attack. After our frosty reception I doubt the others are going to rushing to save us."

"We need some early warning system." Swarm mentioned. "All the planning in the world won't help if we can tell if they're already here."

Trickster nodded. "And what should we do once we've spotted them?"

"Hit them as hard as you can while getting the fuck out of there. Anyone that's lasted as long as they have has gotten good at avoiding or surviving attacks. Then give Blacklight a call while you're running. Hopefully, he'll catch them before they escape. Or get _you_ first." As they spoke, Alex turned his attention to his scavengers. Had them move to areas in the city, reformat into sensors. They wouldn't be foolproof, but they should at least give him some advanced warning of where the Nine were. And the more that spotted them, the better he could triangulate their position.

It was like a game of cat and mouse, except that the cat had a million eyes and a bazooka.

And the cat had already found its prey.

Jack Slash, current leader of the Nine. Shard power is to extend the edge of his blade to incredible lengths, allowing him to attack a target from range. But apparently his most dangerous weapon was his words. He could always find chinks and weakpoints to _talk_ someone into defeat. Break them down, and then pull them back up as monsters and killer. And apparently, he would lead to the end of the world. Threat rating: Moderate.

Siberian. Completely invincibility. Some kind of barrier set up around her skin. Unbreakable so far. Threat rating: Extreme.

Bonesaw. Tinker. Can take people apart and put them back together again in horrific and seemingly impossible ways. Most likely has enhanced the Nine to make them more durable. Threat level: Low.

Crawler. Regenerator. Can heal and adapt to almost anything. A fight with him would likely end up being a contest of who can kill whom faster. Threat level: High.

Shatterbird. Complete control over silicon through sound. Break glass, fry electronics, and blast with sand. Threat level: Slightly moderate.

Burnscar. A young woman with powers over fire. Can create lots of it, and travel through open flames. The heat and fire will be a bitch, but it will be cornering her that'll be annoying. Threat rating: Moderate.

And finally, Cherish. Regent's little sister. Can detect people through their emotions, and influence them. Make them frightened enough to attack their comrades, make them sad enough to commit suicide. Threat level: Annoying.

And they were all in the same block as them.

Damnit.

"The Nine are here." He said aloud, interrupting their conversation. "Three streets west, two streets north." He watched as Cherish pointed out one of his drones, and Siberian jumped up to rip it in half. Shit. Cherish must be able to detect him through the drones. Sense his emotions. He'll have to take her out second, maybe even first.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Trickster asked. "Right out the gate? We got shitty luck."

"Maybe not." Regent replied. "Cherish's always been good at tracking people from afar. Her senses spread out through the entire city maybe. She probably found us – or maybe just me – and decided to bring the Nine this way."

"What did you do to make the Nine want _you_ so badly?" Ballistic asked him."

"Nothing. Cherish pretty much admitted that she only put my name forward so that they'll kill me and my friends." He shook his head sadly. "She's being a complete idiot. She joined the Nine to try and get away from Heartbreaker."

Joining the Nine to escape one man. That was like running into a pack of hungry wolves to try and hide from your drunken father.

"We need defences." Swarm said, thinking tactically. "Somewhere we can hide, maybe some extra armour and weapons. Blacklight, can you make us something?"

"I'm gonna need everything I've got to take them down. I can't waste materials on you while I'm keeping them busy far away." He replied. But as he said that, he realised that it was highly likely that at least two of them Nine might escape on him; keep heading in this direction. And besides, he and Dana knew that he was going to have to take more control over this city; if only to keep the PRT from trying anything stupid again.

Having the Undersiders and Travellers owe him might make that easier. As would having them alive and unharmed.

He rolled his shoulders as slabs of his biomass slathered off, dropping to the ground. Small flies buzzed away from it, joining with Swarm's hive. "Here. Grab a handful of that and slap it on your body. It isn't enough to cover everything, but it can act like a second armour. Swarm, I've given you some bugs with stronger venoms. Should prove distracting enough for you to run." As they warily moved towards the pile, he took off at a run towards the Nine. Three streets became two; two became one. He jumped over the buildings before him, ready to start tearing into them.

And saw Siberian being tossed at his position.

A quick blast of air shoved him aside, Siberian's claws only just hitting his side. And then Jack slashed him with his blade, the power marking a groove into his chest. Alex pushed himself towards the ground, slamming into it hard enough to make a small crater. The Nine were sent flying away from the impact.

As he landed, he took note of where the Nine were in relation to himself. Shatterbird had taken to the air, nearly crashed against the side of a building from the shockwave. Bonesaw was curled up near the steps of an apartment building, Siberian dropping down to protect her. Jack was lying on his back, a large cut on his forehead. Cherish was cowering inside a building, trying to get away. Crawler was slammed through a wall, his body scarred and pulverised. Burnscar was shooting flames from her hands, ready to land inside the fire.

And then his perception sped up, and he got to work.

For starters, he let the Virus start having some fun.

See, when he had landed, it was just debris that he sent blasting out with the shockwave. He had also unleashed the Virus as well. Made it obey his will. So now, every living thing within five meters of himself was currently infected, allowing him to track and kill them at his leisure.

He _could_ just activate it fully and let it kill all the vulnerable members of the Nine. But he wasn't certain if their higher brain functions and shards would still survive a remote kill like that. There could be something useful in their heads, some weakness of the Siberian's or Crawler's.

Besides, he enjoyed getting his hands dirty. Being able to just command people to drop dead was boring _and_ anti-climactic.

So. Easiest target right now; Shatterbird. She shattered all the glass around them and threw it at him. He simply let it bounce off or shatter against his armour while he ran her through with his whipfist. All the glass around them fell to the ground as he consumed her. He found her shard and her memories, and sent the lot of them back into the Hive Mind. Another part of him processed them, leaving him free to keep fighting without becoming vulnerable to a counter-attack.

Like, say, Siberian reaching him and grabbing him.

She ripped him in half like wet paper, throwing both halves away before stomping on his head. It hurt like a bitch, but he ignored it. Even with her powers, he still had more than enough biomass to withstand the assault. His Infected Vision spotted one man standing not far from Jack's location, likely debating whether to fight or flee.

One internal switch flicked, and the Virus was in control. _Alex_ was in control.

Jack barely turned as he heard the man running towards him, merely slicing him apart and stepping to the side. His smug grin vanished as he saw the corpse pull itself back together. He started backing away, but Alex shoved his fist through his chest. Bonesaw's work tried to fight back, but just like with Shatterbird, it was fighting a losing battle. Her modifications could withstand a lot, but there were limits. And a hole in the chest _and_ getting eaten alive were just too much for it.

His upper body turned into fluid and flowed away, just as Burnscar blasted his position with fire. It re-joined the new him, and he charged back into the fray.

Meanwhile, his lower half had reformed and was currently heading towards Cherish. He nudged the Virus inside of her, and it started tearing into her. Not enough to kill, but enough to hamper her. The modifications fought back, but with every defence, the Virus learned. Knowledge was transferred, sent to the rest.

Cherish collapsed to the ground, looked up at him in panic. She lashed out with her power, trying to crush him under sorrow and despair.

The world was fucked up. Humans were fucked up. The so called 'good guys' were more determined to mess with things they didn't understand, and the villains were taking over. They lie, and cheat, and kill without reason. Without remorse. Why should he keep fighting for them? Why doesn't he just kill them all off and replace them with something better?

Because he refuses to let some fucking goth bitch freak tell him what to do. If he was going to end the world, if that ever came to pass, it would be _his_ choice. And Dana would have to have died for that to ever come to pass.

He took far too much pleasure in smashing his foot through her and picking her brain.

Outside, his other half was doing surprisingly well, all things considered.

Yes, he was having to avoid Siberian's attacks. Yes, Crawler had joined the fight and was currently trying to rip him apart as well. Yes, Burnscar was throwing around fire like it was the fourth of July and generally being a pain in the ass.

But hey, at least he was keeping them occupied. And he was flying. That made it easier to dodge their attacks.

But then his Hive Mind found something in Cherish's memories.

Whenever the Nine went, there was always someone else following. The same old man, inside a van. He was asleep whenever Siberian was active, and awake when she ever vanished. She was a projection. _That's_ why she's so invincible. There's nothing real for them to work against.

Jackpot.

"Coward! Come down and fight me!" Crawler roared at him. He fired another ball of acid, but Alex just flew to the side and avoided it. He wanted to avoid hitting Crawler too often; it would make him more resilient to his attacks. The Virus was still inside of him, but it was doing a good job of impersonating the rest of his cells. For now, his body has no reason to assume that it's under attack.

While Crawler was busy shouting and yelling, Alex was using the Hive Mind to tap into Cherish's powers. A flood of emotions crashed into him before he slowed it to a trickle; a slight sense of where everyone was, just like how he could sense where his biomass was in the city. Siberian, Siberian… Where was he?

His cellphone was busted up, but luckily he kept several spares back at base. He called Swarm from there. His other self kept the four survivors occupied and distracted. "Siberian is just a projection. Her real body is vulnerable and in hiding. You're looking for a man hiding inside a van."

"Got it." She replied. "I'll let you know when I find him." He focused on the self fighting the Nine, and moved towards Bonesaw. Siberian moved to stand guard over her, ready to rip him apart again.

Jack's memories told him she'd do that.

He used a blast of air to push himself to a complete stop, landing on the ground. As Siberian moved forward, he pushed backwards. Burnscar wasn't expecting that, and so his hand ripped her head clean off before she could escape. At the same time, his other half smashed through the wall behind Bonesaw, and crushed her underneath.

That just left Crawler and Siberian. The two most resilient members of the group.

Back at base, his phone rang.

"I've got at least five people I think might be our guy." She replied. "I don't know if he can be awake _and_ use Siberian though. They all woke up normally."

"Then I'll work my way through the list and see what happens." He replied. A call went out to all the drones. His phone pinged with the coordinates. They swarmed those five locations, ripping open the vans and consuming the men inside.

He got up to the third target before Siberian vanished. Another shard joined the Hive.

Oh, the things he could do with _that_ power.

And then Crawler body slammed him.

Alex lashed out with claws and spikes, tearing his way free even as the acid melted into him. He dropped off damaged biomass, mashing it into Crawler's face as he fought free. With every strike, it became harder to hurt that area. His claws sliced it at a slower rate, felt more resistance.

This fight wasn't going anywhere fast.

Think, think. What did Crawler want? What did Jack offer to stop him from leaving, or taking over?

Violence. Being attacked. Crawler wanted deadly scenarios so he could always become stronger.

"This fight isn't worth your talents." He called out as he bounded away. "Neither of us is anywhere near our prime."

Crawler glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"You think _this_ is the best I can do? I wasn't actually prepared for you guys. Fighting you here and now was a 'spur of the moment' thing. But if I had time to prepare, time to gather up my tools or take this somewhere I had the advantage… I'd destroy you."

Crawler smirked, his mouth widening into a grin. "You really think so, don't you?"

"You _know_ anyone capable of killing off the others is _definitely_ worth your time. I could probably get closer to killing you than anyone else out there. Hell, I managed to send Leviathan packing all by myself." Crawler licked his lips in anticipation. "If you manage to survive me, you'd be the toughest thing around for _miles._ No one could come close to being a threat to you ever again. This will be the fight you've been waiting for your whole fucking life."

"…Name your time and place." Crawler replied.

Alex smiled behind his mask. "My base, tomorrow night. Right in the heart of it."

* * *

The next day, everyone was evacuating from Blacklight's territory.

It was a quiet and orderly evac, helped out by the fact that the people themselves didn't need to move at all. Their houses grew thicker exteriors, stood up on several thick strong legs, and slowly walked away. They moved at a sedate enough pace to not disturb anything inside; several families could be seen having breakfast through their windows. The houses moved in an orderly fashion, in rows guided by a single intelligence. The walls had shrunken down to let them all leave without getting into single-file. The water towers and electricity generators moved with them.

The order and control behind the evacuation worked in Shadow Team's favour.

The PRT had quickly heard of Blacklight's victory over the Nine. Most of their members were glad to hear that the murdering monsters were gone; the news that they had a team with similar base powers cheered them up even more. But to Director Piggot, the news had been even more ominous and foreboding. She honestly would've preferred it if the Nine had won against Blacklight. The idea that he could kill all the Nine – even The Siberian – with his base powers on top of being able to fight Leviathan to a draw was terrifying enough. But the fact that he could harvest powers, that he had the Nine's powers, was even worse.

She needed some incentive to keep Blacklight in check. To that end, she formed Shadow Team.

A team of five PRT agents outfitted with the latest in Tinker-designed stealth suits. Invisible on all spectrums, trapped heat signatures, refracted light to avoid casting a shadow, even had tech in the feet to avoid creating dust in dirtier environments. They were as invisible as you could possibly get.

They weren't being sent in to assassinate Blacklight. Piggot had already told them that would never work. But Athena had suddenly appeared in Blacklight's employ; she lived and worked out of his base. She could be his lover, or a friend, or a family member. But she was likely important to Blacklight.

Important enough that he would likely be willing to back down if her safety was under threat. And her data would be incredibly useful in learning more about the current power struggles.

That was their mission. Get in, abduct Athena and her computer, and then get out again. All without being spotted. Simple.

Except that when the suits were designed, they were never made with the idea that the ground beneath them was _alive_.

When Alex created his base, his 'dark tower', he knew he would be processing large amounts of data. Enough to even probably cause him to _lose_ his sense of self amongst the Hive Mind. To that end, he had created a brand new personality to control the base _for_ him. Free him up to focus on other things. Dana had decided to call this new mind Argus, after the hundred-eyed giant that served Hera.

Argus liked Dana. Alex may have created him, but it was _Dana_ who made him who he was. And he would reward her kindness by doing his job.

So when he felt footsteps on his surface where there weren't supposed to be any, he paid careful attention to them. When he saw nothing where they moved, he felt confused.

He flicked through the spectrum available to him, getting more and more concerned as he continued to see nothing. Invisibles. Assassins, maybe? Or did Crawler have the power to become invisible? No. Too stealthy for him. He'd come charging through the crowd in broad daylight, driving Alex to attack him to try and stop him. Whoever these people were, they weren't allied with him. If only he knew what he was looking at.

He followed the footsteps to the front gate, felt them start slicing a hole in the surface. He let them do so, weakened the bonds to make it easier. When all the feet were inside, he sealed the door behind them.

Well, at least inside there was _something_ he could do.

He released the Virus as a gas through the air, tiny enough to appear similar to dust. It went transparently through the hallway, coating everything it touched. When it landed on himself, he drew it back in.

Then he flicked to Infected Vision. Outlines of five humans appeared in his sight. They were similar in design to the suits worn by Prometheus.

The PRT.

Well, they already knew they'd likely come. Dana and the Pantheon had all known of their attack on Alex before, and had expressed concerns that his one-sided assault on the Nine would frighten them. Enough that they would try another attack.

If Argus had a head, he'd be shaking it right now. One of these days, the PRT is going to push Alex too far, and he'll kill them all for their troubles.

But right now, Alex was busy preparing for Crawler. The PRT's latest stupid idea was _his_ department.

Well, no time like the present. He lashed out with tendrils, wrapping around their forms. The squad yelled and shouted and started blasting away, and he ripped them apart or dragged them into his flesh. Memories were gained, sorted, and filed away. An attempt to use Dana as a hostage. Force Alex to back down.

He'll see what Dana wants to do with that. He turned his gaze to her room. She was currently packing things away, storing her hard drive in her suit again. He applied pressure to the membrane of the door, simulated knocking.

"Come in." She called out. He let a face form on the wall behind her. A sculpted figure that was as much a man as a statue or a work of art. "How's the evacuation going, Argus?"

"Seventy-three percent of all households have been moved further down towards the boardwalk. It should take another twenty minutes for the remainder to join them." He replied, his voice deep and rich like chocolate. "But there are other matters to be concerned about."

She sighed. "Of course there is. There's _always_ more problems when a big massive fucking monster is arriving to attack." She sighed again. "Alright. Hit me."

"A PRT team attempted to sneak their way into the base. Their goal was to kidnap you and hold you hostage to make Alex more compliant."

She frowned at him. "Really? Shit. Just our fucking luck. Please tell me those memories aren't already in Alex's head."

He shook his head. "I have already filed them away, but on a separate part of the Hive Mind. It's closed off; only I can allow access to it."

"Thank Christ. If Alex learns that the PRT were going to grab me, he'd call for a hunting season on them. We so do not have time for that right now." She held out her wrist computer. "Send every last memory into this thing. It's on a closed system, so Alex can't find out about it."

"Of course." Tendrils grew from the wall, linking up with the hard drive. As he did so, he felt a feeling. The best human description would be that something was bumping his funny bone.

A way he had set things up to alert him when their prisoner was waking up.

"Amy Dallon is regaining consciousness." He informed Dana. She nodded and moved back to her computer, the tendrils flowing across the wall with her. When they were all moved over, she sat down before the membrane that made up the monitor. It showed Amy Dallon from above, sitting in the center of the room and looking around wildly. "How did Alex even know she was heading this way?"

"Assumptions and guesses. Several drones spotted her heading in our direction. But it wasn't until a Hunter spotted her in the crowd that he realised something weird was happening. He and I talked, and came to consensus. We agreed to let her in, and see what she did."

"And conveniently left all the doors open for her."

"We did. We assumed she was heading for the throne room, and Alex created a copy to stand in for him."

"Why did she pass out though? Was _that_ part of the plan?"

"No. But we have some ideas. Her power lets her study and understand things on a biological and genetic level."

"Oh god." Dana said, finally understanding."

"Her first actual interaction with the Blacklight Virus was when she tried to interact with it. She understood what it's capable of almost immediately." He winced as he felt her use her powers. The carapace that made up the wall started melting away. He pricked her fingers, made her jump away in shock, before fixing the damage. He could still feel her power bubbling over, trying to interact with him. Trying to fix the damage the Virus' very existence causes.

But there was nothing _to_ fix. There was no unchanged cell inside of his body. It was like trying to build an island in the middle of the ocean.

"You should probably talk to her before she tries tunnelling out again. Find out _why_ she came here." He said.

"Isn't it because Alex smacked around her sister or something?" She asked as he created stairs downwards. A direct line to the cells.

"We're not sure. It seems the most _likely_ reason, but why wait until now? We can confirm that Glory Girl is still alive. Nothing has changed on that front."

"Weird." She shrugged. "Oh well. Guess we'll just have to talk like real people then." By now, he had led her to the cells. The door was covered by a membrane on their side, eyes projecting what was on the other side. Amy was standing there, stock still and clutching herself. Dana moved towards the door, and he pulled back on the bones and tendrils keeping it locked.

Amy jumped as the door opened, as she saw Dana in the entrance. Dana tried to give her a kind smile, but it obviously didn't work. She was likely too worried about the Virus to pay attention to anything else.

"Hey there." Dana said. She kept away, near the entrance. Didn't want to spook her. "Glad to see you're up." Amy's eyes darted around. She was hyperventilating. "So, you want to talk?" She took a single step forward.

Amy jumped like she heard a gunshot. "Get away from me your freak!" She nearly shouted, backing away. When she hit the wall, she shrieked and backed away from it. She stood trembling in the middle of the room again, panicking.

Dana stepped back, hands raised up. "Ok, ok. You're freaking out. I get that. You're in a room made up from a virus. It's perfectly normal to be scared." She tapped at her suit, and it slithered off her body. She was left in her normal clothes. "But I'm perfectly normal. Still human. I just… I just want to talk."

"You… You can't be human. You're s-s-surrounded by… by…" She took a shaky breath, and then stopped. "The air. It's in the air. Oh god. Oh god, I'm… We're all…"

Infected.

"Why would he… Blacklight's… Why?" She blurted out.

Dana sat down, crossed her legs. She still looked calm. "It's not as bad as you think." Amy levelled a look at her. "Ok, so it is. But it's not gonna hurt you. The Virus… It's intelligent. Alex can command it to not infect people, and it'll do that. It'll stay dormant until it passes through your body, and then it'll… I dunno, rejoin the rest." She shrugged. "In fact, according to Alex, it's not intending to be so lethal."

"And you actually _trust_ him? The monster that made this shit? The guy so evil that most of the fucking Nine wanted to recruit him?"

"Wait. What did you just say?" Dana looked at her curiously. "Argus, what is she talking about?"

What indeed. He looked through the memories they had gained from the Nine. About their targets. Siberian wanted Alex because he was a monster. That much was obvious. But Bonesaw _also_ wanted Alex because his power complemented her own.

Just like Panacea's did.

If he had a head, he'd be slapping it right now.

"Bonesaw attacked Amy Dallon because her original target was already chosen by Siberian." He said aloud. Amy jumped as she heard his voice. " _That's_ why she attacked us. She blames Blacklight for her family coming under attack."

Dana turned back to Dallon, still trying to smile. "Alex… He didn't _exactly_ create them. Maybe it would help if I explained."

And she did. She recounted everything she remembered about the original Alex, everything she knew of the new Alex, and everything that happened in New York against Blackwatch. Argus kept one eye on them, while returning focus to the buildings. They had all been moved successfully. Swarm was near them, her bugs flying around them. Alex was in the heart of the base with the Pantheon, getting everything prepared. Organising fight after fight after fight; filtering out mutations and improvements. Changing the shape to better combat Crawler, moving biomass to surround it.

Satisfied that everything was still ok, he turned his attention back to the conversation.

"…And Alex nearly gave his life to stop the bomb from taking out Manhattan." Dana was saying. "Hell, if he couldn't regenerate like he can, it _would've_ killed him. Don't you see? Alex may be a monster, but he's not _acting_ like it. He's a good person. He just… has trouble expressing it."

Amy looked at her, her expression stunned like she had gotten smacked in the face with a ham. "But… But… Y-You said that your brother _improved_ this… this thing." She waved a hand out wildly. "He took an abomination and _made it worse_. And you think that the… the… the monster… the _thing_ that wears his face is good? You said it yourself; the Virus can trick people. It's _using_ you to kill everyone else."

Dana raised an eyebrow. "You probably have a better idea of just how dangerous the Virus is, about how quickly it can kill you. So why would Alex not use it yet if he was planning on killing us all?" She shook her head. "You know what _your_ problem is? You're so used to the idea that everyone's either good or evil that you can't understand that it's a fucking stupid idea. It's more than stupid, it's fucked up. What, you think that because someone wears a costume and fights for good and justice that they're _nice_? It's ideology. It's just something you believe in. Take Blackwatch. You know, the mass murderers I told you about? The guys who tried to blow up an entire city? They did all that horrific shit because they believed that they were doing _the right thing_. They were government employed killers and fucking psychos. And the only thing stopping them from wiping out everyone because they fucked up was the very thing _they were trying to kill_." She crossed her arms and glowered. "So according to you, Alex is still the bad guy in this picture."

"No. No. They're both bad. They're both evil. Where were the heroes? Where was the Protectorate?"

"We didn't have them. We're from a completely different Earth. Where the Virus is the only thing with access to powers." She shook her head again. "I don't know how to say this any other way. In real life, there's a _really_ thin line between good and evil. And where that line stands depends entirely on the person looking at it. Not what they do, or what their abilities are, but what _they_ decide. Hell, Alex – the monster you hate – has probably done more to help out than the entire Protectorate."

"What are you talking about? What has he done that's helpful?"

" _He_ was the Endbringer Killer. The giant monster that kicked Leviathan's ass and sent him running? That was my brother. And while you were passed out, he went ahead and killed Slaughterhouse Nine." Amy looked up in shock at that. "Yeah. He just did in fifteen minutes what the good guys have failed to do for years. Only one left is Crawler, and he's coming _here_ tonight for a final showdown." She stood back up, her suit crawling into her hand and shaped like a suitcase. "I'm getting out of here before that happens. You can leave too; we won't stop you. But if you go after my brother again… I can't say for certain if he'll let you live next time. All I _can_ say, is that he won't unleash the Virus on the world. He just wants to be left alone." And she turned and left the room.

Amy stared at her in shock, before stumbling out too. She flinched away from everything around her, stopping when she nearly stumbled into the walls.

Argus watched her as she ran into the city again.

* * *

The moon lit up the abandoned village, the smooth flat surface. Not a single living thing stirred in the pale moonlight.

Then from the far end, a large animalistic shape smashed through a building, charging straight for the giant base before it.

And Alex started tripping his traps.

The ground beneath Crawler suddenly exploded, tendrils and shrapnel shredding into him. The ground around him rose up and spat out acid that burned him. Monsters came charging from nowhere to smother him, claws and teeth tearing into his flesh. The Virus went became active, consuming and infecting every cell it could. Crawler's body would adapt to the Virus, and the Virus would adapt to overcome the changes.

Crawler kept moving as best as he could, claws and teeth lashing out around him. Body parts fell to the ground around them, consumed and then released as more creatures. Same with the corpses.

Here, the Infected could just keep coming.

Crawler smashed into the front gates. But they held firm, and grew spikes. The spikes tore into him, infecting him even more. They dragged downwards, tearing into him and pinning him. The frame grew teeth, and slammed down on him. Once, twice, three times. On the fourth, he was sheared in half. The biomass consumed the lower half.

And still he kept going. Crawled inside the hallway.

The Pantheon jumped down, started attacking. Apollo flew overhead, firing beam after beam while shooting his arrows. Artemis did the same, running around and putting the arrows into his eyes. The shafts exploded, tearing apart pieces of him. One teammate, Hephaestus, fired a massive tendril through his body before slamming a metal spear into him. From that spear, more metal sprouted. Stabbing and tearing and ripping away. The last member, Hermes, teleported onto his back, and pulled the pin from a grenade he held. Another Hermes appeared by his leg, blew that up too. And another, and another.

The Virus was starting to gain some ground.

The roof above them opened up, and Alex slammed down onto Crawler as the Pantheon jumped clear. He then jumped off as large spikes pinned Crawler down, holding him in place. The five of them moved back in, aiming for any possible weakpoint or offensive limb. Alex tore even more into him, his claws wearing away with each strike. He had sharpened them to a single cell, allowing him to cleave through Crawler more easily. The building consumed every piece of flesh that was sliced or ripped off.

Crawler moved more frantically now, as he realised he wasn't adapting fast enough.

Alex tore his way to his internal organs, ripping them out and consuming them. The others pulled away at his skin, while tendrils linked up with what was left. His powers were too busy trying to heal, adapt, _and_ fight off the Virus. Slowly but surely, he was being consumed.

Alex slammed his claws into Crawler's brain, and ripped it out. His body consumed it as the building finished what was left. He was hit with an amazing amount of data. Every mutation and adaptation Crawler's body had in it. Acidic spit, redundant systems, senses, fireproofing, all kinds of things. Centuries worth of evolution, now all his.

The Nine were completely wiped out. And he gained so much more power than he could've imagined.

* * *

Legend had to admit, sometimes the problem of being part of a secret organisation was the locations you had to go to in order to get to the base.

The latest 'drop-point' had been an oil rig off in the Atlantic Ocean. From there, it had only been a few seconds before the world before him shifted. Turned into a white-tiled hallway. He already knew where to go; he had been down these halls far too many times.

There were plenty of cover names for the group, if they ever had to speak of them in public. But only one was its real name.

Cauldron.

He arrived at the conference room shortly, finding everyone else already waiting. Alexandria and Eidolon, the other two members of the Triumvirate. The Doctor and the Number Man, the two main faces of the group. And a second woman, dressed in full black. Likely some insurance to help distract them if the three of them ever turned on them.

The Doctor looked up from her papers. "Legend. You made it. In that case, we can begin with the meeting."

"Of course." He replied, sitting down. "All your message said was that we needed to speak about Blacklight."

"Correct. I assume that you've heard the news?"

He nodded. "He killed most of the Nine on the first night, including Siberian. And the next night, he managed to overpower Crawler and kill him too." It was both terrifying and yet amazing. Some of the biggest monsters around were finally dead.

Alexandria spoke up. "He also has the power to harvest powers from those he kills and devours. We should work under the impression that he has taken _all_ the powers of the Nine." Legend glanced at Eidolon, saw him frown.

He had to admit, he had a good reason to. Blacklight was showing _some_ of the powers Eidolon could use, and he wasn't exactly a paragon of justice.

"Maybe I could try speaking to him." Legend offered. "See if we could cut a deal with him to join the Protectorate."

"He'll refuse." Alexandria retorted. "Why would he accept? He's gained territory, notoriety, lackeys, and he's far more likely to allowed to gain powers working as a villain. We have nothing to offer him."

The Doctor nodded. "But we _do_ have more reasons to capture him."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Ever since Blacklight showed up, we've been _very_ curious about him. To have mid ratings in almost every category is unheard of. Not since Eidolon showed up at any rate. And then we heard something from one of our operatives."

"What did you hear?" Eidolon asked.

"According to him, when he was returning from collecting some materials for our work, he was followed by a young woman and an older man in a hoodie. He tried to stop them, and the man started killing. The Doorkeeper opened a random doorway to throw them out…"

"And it led to Brockton Bay." Alexandria guessed.

"Indeed." The Number Man confirmed. "Once we heard _that_ , it was easier to follow up on Blacklight. The results are hopeful, but not pleasant."

"We'll be the judges of that." Legend said.

"Blacklight – real name Alex Mercer – was originally a bioterrorist from a world we're tentatively calling Earth Delta. He was originally part of a team to research bioweapons and create antidotes for them, only to turn traitor and unleash it upon New York City. The virus in question was called DX-1118. Or Blacklight for short."

The Doctor took over. "Blacklight is more of a genetic enhancer than a bioweapon; a virus that infects and alters any organic material it finds. Nearly all attempts, however, put too much strain upon the body, and kills them. The Virus then 'raises' the body as a zombie-like creature, and seeks out more people to infect and improve. These 'Infected' have enhanced strength, agility, and toughness. Enough of them in a single spot allows them to bind the flesh together into greater monsters."

Legend looked at them in shock. A virus that created zombies? And worse? "And what about Mercer? What happened to him?"

"Mercer was a one-in-a-million chance, I believe the expression goes. When the Blacklight Virus infected him, it managed to succeed in altering the body without killing the subject. He is the natural conclusion of the Virus at best. Something more or worse at the most." The Number Man said.

"I'm not hearing how this is hopeful." Eidolon said.

"Thanks to the mutation caused by Alex Mercer's body, the newly created virus is much easier to manipulate. Make it mass producible. Fireteam Prometheus of Brockton Bay is one such example. Their abilities are nowhere near Mercer's, but they are still impressive."

"You're… You're suggesting that we _intentionally_ let people be infected." Legend realised.

"Symbiotic, instead of parasitic. The Virus, if treated properly, could make it so that we would have _armies_ to fight the Endbringers. Not just dozens of capes." The Doctor said. "In the short term, more capes could survive lethal attacks, be back on their feet faster."

"If you _really_ think this 'bioweapon' can help, then why aren't we trying to negotiate with him? If he's the natural conclusion or whatever he is, surely he can make the Virus into a form we can handle safely." Legend asked.

"As Alexandria has already pointed out, we have very little to offer him. And we believe that he has no love for governments after his terrorist actions. Like it or not, we _aren't_ going to get the Virus by asking nicely."

"So instead, you want to piss off the guy who's been beating us at everything." Legend summed up. "Even _if_ this succeeds, you're going to have people fighting at only half strength against a parahuman operating…"

"He's not a parahuman." The Doctor interrupted.

"He's close enough that it doesn't matter. But as I was saying, they're going to be fighting against a man operating on levels we can't get to. I know from Miss Militia's reports that he has advanced healing. Is that because of the Virus, or how much there is of it?"

"His healing works because he is made up entirely of the Virus."

"So if _we_ slash him in half, he'll just recover. But if _he_ slashes one of our men, they're dead."

"All plans run risks." She offered.

"I have to agree with Legend on this." Eidolon remarked. "It sounds like we're intending to antagonise this guy for something that might _possibly_ work." He crossed his arms. "I say we just keep an eye on Blacklight and, I dunno, manipulate him into helping us out. Get some real nasty monsters to go gunning for him."

Legend was thankful for Eidolon's help. It may have been motivated more by jealousy, but it was another point on his side.

"And what happens if he decides to team up with the monsters we send for him to kill? What if the Nine managed to convince him to join their numbers? Every moment he walks is another chance that he could destroy us all."

"Then perhaps we shouldn't give him a reason to choose _them_ over _us_." Legend replied.

* * *

 **And… done. Wasn't too sure what to do with that last part, and Legend's words seemed like a good place to stop. I always think of him as the reasonable kind of guy. The kind of person who looks at a plan to piss of Alex and go 'that's a stupid idea'.**

 **For those of you who haven't read Worm yet, or haven't gotten far in it, Cauldron is a secret group trying to make sure the world doesn't get wiped out. They're shady enough that you'd think of them as a Bigger Bad group, but really they're just really bad at being the Big Good. They sometimes test their serums on people they kidnap from other Earths, resulting in mutations, and then they throw them onto Earth Bet to be someone else's problems. The Case 53s as they're called.**

 **And that it how Alex ended up on Earth Bet in the first place.**

 **Now, I know that some people will think of the fight against Slaughterhouse Nine to be anti-climactic. But their main defence has always been Siberian. Have her grab some teammates, and they're invincible. And Jack has a precog sense for shards. He can tell when they get used. Alex wasn't using a shard, and who'd expect someone to get back up and kill you after being sliced in half? And like I had Alex pointed out; if he used the Virus and infected them, he could kill all his enemies (or at least most of them) with a cough. Now** _ **that's**_ **anti-climactic.**

 **Think I did good with the fight against Crawler though. That's how I think you'd take him out. Keep piling on the damage and never give him time to heal. Rip him apart and consume him piece by piece.**

 **And finally, Amy (someone pointed out her last name is Dallon, not Dalton. Not gonna go back and fix every mention, but it's still been changed). She's described on TV Tropes as black and white morality. Or insanity. One of the two. Basically, she sees the world as good guys and bad guys when it's all grey. If you're called a villain, you're a heartless monster and will never change. At least she never found out that she's the daughter of a villain in this story. So she's not fucked up even more. I mean, I read the stuff she says, and my inner Alex is talking about how bullshit it all is. No offence to Wildbow, but she keeps acting like the fact that her dad is a villain means that deep down she's just as evil. It just… argh.**

 **Ahem. Next chapter will hopefully be a bit quieter. Just Alex upgrading the Undersiders and the Travellers, maybe get some more members of his Pantheon.**

 **Edit: Oh, forgot to mention that when I looked up Shards of Impossiblity to just read through it (in case I forgot something important) I found out that there is a reddit page for it. Awesome. Thanks for that. Next step would probably be get a mention on TV Tropes or something.**


	13. Another Day, Another Meeting

**Chapter 13: Another Day, Another Meeting.**

When all the houses were sent _back_ to Mount Olympus (as Dana had taken to calling their base), there was a massive crowd of people on the streets watching them. It was like most of the city had diverted to their part of town to watch it all happen, lining up on the sidewalks and gawking. Argus had created barricades to keep them out of the way.

Because according to him, nothing trips you up like having a corpse or two underfoot.

Fireteam Prometheus was also on site, standing on the rooftops and watching the houses move. But they weren't actually armed like they had been when they attacked him. This was probably some publicity thing or something. They had been reallocated into an anti-Slaughterhouse team, only for him to kill off all those psychos alone.

Whatever. As long as they don't start attacking, he won't have to kill them.

"This city doesn't want you, freaks!" Someone in the crowd shouted, throwing a large chunk of rock at one of the houses. A spike shot out and slapped it out of the air, while Alex watched the man who threw it try and make an escape. He waited for him to get clear of the crowd before dropping down in front of him. The force of about three tonnes landing knocked the man off his feet. He looked up at him in fear.

At the same time, five more idiots tried the same thing. His drones found them too, and pinned them down.

The leader of Prometheus jumped down next to him. "Let him and his friends go, Blacklight." She ordered. "He may be an ass, but he shouldn't die over it."

"Fine." Alex replied. Then he grabbed the man by the arm and bent it to face the wrong way, a loud cracking sound filling the alleyway. The man screamed in pain. "But I won't be so merciful a second time."

"Figured as much." She said as she grabbed the guy by the other arm. "Is my team going to run into problems grabbing his friends?"

"No." He answered truthfully. They already snapped several bones in each of them. And then he had sent them away so that Prometheus could grab them. As their leader cradled the moron, he jumped back onto the rooftops, watching as the last of the houses moved past.

People were still keeping away from the biomass-covered areas, but they were closer than before.

The surface had been altered now to give the road a clearer appearance. Drains ran down the sides, leading to purifiers. Several generator drones were crawling into large pits, tendrils latching onto their backs. People were looking up as he passed, watched him move through the town he had made. People wearing blue vests were walking around; the police force Themis had organised for him. Two of them were currently intervening in a squabble, the arguing fading as he passed by. He ignored all their interactions as he headed to Dana's location.

He found her standing next to a walking basket, looking dubiously at the bounty his land had produced.

"Ok, how the fuck did you make ham and steak grow from a tree?" She asked him as he approached, grabbing the ham with both hands and tugging on it. It broke off with a loud snap after several tugs, causing her to stumble back a step. She held it in her hands and gave it a sniff. "I'm not even sure if this is edible or not."

"Don't worry. It's fully consumable." He replied, one finger lengthening into a claw. He carved off a bit of it. "Try it. You'll like it."

She dumped the rest of the ham in the basket, grabbing the slice from him. "If this thing poisons me, I'm gonna shove that ham up your ass." She took a small bite from it, chewing it slowly and methodically. Then she took another bite. "Ok, guess I was wrong. This stuff tastes just like the real thing." She ate the rest of the slice. "But seriously, how did you make this thing?"

"I used the Virus to splice pig DNA with plant DNA, coding it to form specific joints and meats from the buds and branches. Had to do a bit more work to make sure the ham didn't start dropping off, but it looks like it was a success."

"You know, you could've just used normal pigs. Just saying."

"Normal pigs would've required people to keep watch over them, keep them fed and stuff. Would've had to make a pen for them, make sure they had ample food and space, and then we'd have to kill them and cut them up. Seemed easier to just grow them." He turned towards a second patch. There, several 'pelicans' of his were flying in, dropping bellyfuls of fish into a waiting pit. On his other side was a more _normal_ garden patch. Carrots, lettuce, tomatoes; all modified to grow much faster and larger on a weaker diet.

When your biology packs a cheat sheet, you might as well use it.

"Still just feels weird to me, but alright." She shrugged, moved over to grab an apple from a different tree. "We should probably get a market set up somewhere. Somewhere people can buy the things you _can't_ make. Maybe a sheltered area in case it rains."

"Whatever ideas you come up with, take it up with Argus. He can organise it." He looked up at the sun, judged what time it was. "I've got another meeting to go to. And then Swarm's invited us to her place today."

"What for?"

"She said she wanted to talk about upgrades for their repertoire. A few ideas to make them tougher."

"Aw. You're actually caring about them. That's so sweet." She gave him a sarcastic smirk. "Are you gonna mention to them your plan on becoming their new employer?"

"Maybe." He replied evasively. Things had been a bit hectic right now, what with getting his new base set up, hiring lieutenants, and then dealing with the PRT and Slaughterhouse Nine. But he was starting to wonder about whether Coil was still helping out Noelle. Or if he was just using her as an excuse to keep Dinah and her powers. "Don't fully trust him. Never have." He then moved off, merging with the ground to reappear in his throne room. He could've just created a clone there and kept talking to Dana, but there wasn't really much else to talk about. He sat forward and steepled his fingers, watching the group before him.

"Ares." He said to the first member. Jonah Bennet. "You said that you had a change of heart when we last talked."

Jonah shrugged. "Kinda. I'm still not sure about getting turned into one of your Evolved. Sounds freaky as hell, and I'm a bit worried you guys might start getting full of yourselves if you're all 'better' than us lowly humans. But I'd feel safer having some kind of power to protect me and people, in case guns aren't enough and we get another Slaughterhouse showing up. If there's some way you could gift me a power without changing, I'm all up for _that_."

He nodded. Jonah raised a good point. If Crawler had decided to take a detour and attack his people first, all his men would've been too far away to stop him before he could deal a lot of damage. But what power would he give him? Something powerful and tough, yet something he wouldn't regret not having easy access to. "It _should_ be possible. I'm hoping that it is, because there's someone else here in that same position." He turned to a woman. Short, petite, pale-skinned. "Merida Green." The woman jumped a bit as he addressed her.

"Y-Yes, Sir?" She answered hesitantly.

"I've noticed that you've been spending time with Athena when she's outside. Walking with her and talking while she's working. Am I right in considering her your friend?"

She nodded jerkily. "Most of old friends were people I met online. They live in other cities, and I don't really have anyone in Brockton Bay. We started talking shop, and then we started talking about other things."

"So if you had a power, and I ordered you to protect her, would you do it?"

"Yes. Yes, I would." She gulped. "I… I wouldn't say I'm brave enough to die for her, but I'll at least _risk_ my life to keep her safe. Sir."

He nodded. "Good. Because I've recently acquired some new powers, and I felt that others would have more use of them than me." The ground by his throne rose up, a head forming on the top. A striped face with long white hair.

The entire group blinked when they saw it.

"No fucking way." Ares whispered.

"Siberian has spent her entire active career intentionally misleading everyone about her powers." He explained. "She wasn't actually a Brute. _He_ was a Master. Real name, William Manton. As in the Manton Effect. He created a mental projection to fight in his place, explaining why Siberian appeared invincible. She wasn't really there. But Manton's _real_ body was still as vulnerable as anyone."

Merida kept staring at the head, unable to turn away. "And… You're giving that power… to _me_?"

"What better power to keep Athena safe than Siberian's? Everyone was scared of her, and no one could hurt her _or_ anything she was touching. All you'd have to do is place a hand on her, and any attack would be completely ineffectual."

"And you're doing this differently from the others, because…?" Ares asked.

"Insurance. While I'd like to use it, I'd prefer to have someone human and vulnerable to me using it instead. That way, if you betray me, I can still kill you."

Merida gulped loudly. But she stopped her body from shaking. "I… understand, Sir."

"Good." The door on the left-hand side of the room opened wide. "Ares, Merida. Both of you wait in that room over there. I'll have some technicians start planting the powers inside of you." He omitted that he still wasn't a hundred percent certain it would work. He had _some_ ideas, but there was still a risk it might not work.

He never had to try and implant memories into someone's head before.

That just left three more people. A red-haired teen by the name of Grant Fern; a dark-skinned woman named Ariel Mansworth, and a much older man by the name of Michael Peabody. Each of them had offered their services to him, interested in his ability to grant powers.

He had Dana pull up records on them. Minor convictions at most for Grant; clear for Ariel and Michael. Now he just had to see whether they were worthy of power.

"And that just leaves you three. All of you also show interest in becoming Capes. But you also said you want to become Evolved. The process isn't a right you automatically have. It must be earned. And technically, it's lethal enough to force you to be reborn. Consider this your chance to tell me why you think I should grant you Evolved status."

Grant looked up first. A wiry young man covered in scars, a hardened look to his eyes. He was a scrapper, had been in some fights. Might enjoy the power too much. "All my life this city's been one mess after another." He explained. "All the gang wars fucked everyone else over, and the heroes were too busy cleaning up the richer parts of town to help us out. Leviathan showing up just made everything _worse_. The only people here actually cleaning up are the villains, and you've got the best territory besides Swarm." He shrugged. "But you can bet your ass that there's gonna be trouble coming up. Gangs moving in to try and take over, looting everything they can get their hands on. Well I've gotten _real_ tired of just letting them walk all over me. I want to fight. I want to clean this city up. Kick out anyone that has a problem with us. You keep this place under control and not looking like a warzone, we're cool."

Hmm. Interested in fighting for him, wanted the city under his control. Or perhaps he just wants an alliance between the villains. Nevertheless, he could use that kind of determination and viciousness. He'd just have to keep a constant eye on him.

He nodded at Ariel, wanted to hear her words. Ariel was a tall woman, well-built while still considered attractive by the opposite sex. Hair was obviously dyed, brown showing through faded platinum hair. She took a deep breath before starting. "My folks got abducted by the Merchants. Kicked out of their home, forced to work for food. Found out that they didn't make it. Some asshole decided to kick their heads in for fun." She gave a short, mirthless laugh. "Dad used to look down on people like them just because he made more money in a day than they'd ever make in a year. But all that money didn't do anything to stop them."

"So you want revenge? Or are you interested in making sure this sort of thing never happens again?" He asked her.

"I guess… I want a bit of what Grant wants. To stop all the fighting, and to stop people like the Merchants from just doing whatever they want. And… And I'd feel better if _I_ could help make sure that happens."

Possible. But it might be better to simply arm her with a gun. Create a militia. No, maybe not. What was the point in creating his pantheon if he was going to force his people to form a militia? He'll have to talk to Dana about this.

And finally, Michael. Appearance puts him near seventy, maybe even eighty. Too old to fight. Too scrawny and bent in the back to be able to carry a weapon. "My reason is more selfish than these youngsters. I'm too old to be of any help, but I don't want to just sit at home doing nothing. You see too many of the younger generation fighting battles these days, dying before their time. When I die, I at least want to die kicking someone's teeth in."

A word from Dana. She felt that it would fine to let Ariel become an Evolved. She could do more to help, act as a liaison between groups or something. She was pulling up Michael's records now. Used to be a soldier, before losing a leg after running afoul of a cape. Was honourably discharged, lived with a prosthetic became a mechanic. Worked on cars and trucks for decades until he was made redundant. Lived off a pension ever since.

Well, he needed some real soldiers anyway.

"Very well then." He said to the three of them. "I've thought things over, and fortunately you all passed. You'll become part of my Pantheon, and gain some powers." A pillar rose up on his right, a briefcase sitting on it. Tendrils undid the clasps, and opened it for them. Three vials sat within. "And you'll get to help me with something important."

Grant watched the vials warily. "Are those the powers Skidmark was offering before?" He asked.

"The very same. Now, I'd like to say that I know what powers they are and what they'll do to you, but that'd be a lie. The papers I saw weren't clear on what the powers would be. Just had details about the people who paid for them. And as for side effects, well… Whoever made these vials also made the Case 53s. The logical conclusion is that they're what happens when you try to _make_ powers. Luckily, making you Evolved afterwards should fix up any physical mutations that may or may not suffer."

"You're using us as guinea pigs?"

" _With_ your permission. But I can't exactly test this stuff on my own creations. It could cause a disaster that Brockton Bay might never recover from. Maybe even worse."

"But what if we die?' Ariel asked him.

"You shouldn't. Even _if_ the size and shape of your body matters, no organisation would offer powers if they could end up killing you." He shrugged. "The choice is yours. I can still make you Evolved and just find three others to test the serums on. But you won't have powers like the others. Just the strength, speed, and toughness that all Evolved have."

Silence.

Then Michael hobbled to his feet. "Eh, I'm probably gonna drop dead sooner or later. Not much left that's as scary as dying. I'm willing to try."

Grant swore. "No way I'm getting shown up by some old geezer. Fine then. I'll take the stupid drink." Ariel was shaking a bit, but eventually she nodded.

Alex passed them a vial each. They unscrewed the tops, pulled out the slim vials inside. "Drink up. Just remember that _both_ processes will likely have some discomfort to them."

The three of them nodded, and downed the drinks.

Then they collapsed, the ground beneath them softening before impact.

Alex disconnected himself and Argus from _all_ shards.

The world started shaking, the roof blowing away to reveal two giant impossibilities… And then stopped.

He sighed in relief. He avoided it. He didn't want to see what would happen if he had another fucking vision again.

"Argus. Keep everyone away from the Pantheon." He ordered. "Make sure all constructs are still holding together."

"Sure thing. The Hive Mind is having a slight breakdown, but it's pulling itself back together now." Argus replied. "The Pantheon was all inside when the… well, whatever-it-was happened."

"Visions. Or memories maybe. Seems likely that whatever alien thing we see is what gave everyone their powers. Big question is why."

"You don't think it's from the goodness of their hearts?"

"I prefer to be pessimistic. Means I don't get so surprised when someone tries to betray me. And because of that, I have an easier time seeing two alien freaks granting powers for some plan. Why else would they only give them to people who get fucked in the head? People who have problems that they wouldn't mind breaking?"

"So… What do _you_ think is their big plan?"

"Hell if I know. Maybe this is all a game to them. Watch us all kill each other with the powers, place bets on which side will win. Like those… reality shows people watch."

"I'm pretty sure reality TV never had blood sports and wars in them. Maybe wars fought _over_ them, but not as the content."

"The less human something is, the less likely their logic follows our own. Now shush; our newest recruits have woken up."

They had both reconnected to the Hive Mind as soon as Argus said the visions stopped. This entire conversation happened almost instantaneously.

The three of them groaned as they came to, the floor beneath them shifting into chairs. "Ah. That stung." Ariel groaned.

"What the fuck did I just _see_?" Grant asked in shock, blinking away furiously.

Only Michael wasn't reacting too badly to the visions. "Reminds me of the time I walked in on my flatmate and his girlfriend back in 83. I learned far too much about kitchen utensils that day."

Alex ignored their words, focusing on studying their bodies for signs of mutation. Not too bad, all things considered. Grant came out the luckiest; not a single mutation in his body structure. Ariel had gained pointed ears, a third eye on her forehead. Some kind of sensory power maybe? Thinker class? Need to run some tests.

Michael came out the worst though. His beard was clearly not hair anymore; some kind of weed. Seaweed, maybe. Scales covered his arms, ending in three fingered hands with claws. His leg though… they were conjoined at the knees and above, his feet splitting his shoes to resemble flippers. Water based powers most likely. Was it possible that… He leaned in, checked Michael's neck. Yep, gills.

He had mutated into some kind of goddamn fish.

"My process will fix all of that up, Poseidon." He said to Michael. Because if he got all those mutations and _didn't_ have water-based powers, then whoever made these things _really_ fucked up. Ariel turned to look at them, and shrieked as she saw Michael's body. She started running her hands up and down her body, patting it down as she searched for changes. Alex rolled his eyes, not that she could see that. "Ok everyone. Phase one is complete. You've all got powers. Now onto phase two. Just sit still and don't start panicking. Makes things a lot easier." The chairs turned into capsules, the interior filled with his strain. A lot of coughing inside, bodies shaking and twitching as the Virus got to work.

With Ariel, he left the mutations alone. They could very well tie in with her powers, help her sense things better. For Michael though, he fixed up the legs. Consumed the prosthetic, used biomass to craft a new one. Severed the join at the knees, smoothed out the scales.

By the time they became fully Evolved, the capsules releasing them, he had made them all mostly human again.

He waited for them to be standing up before speaking again. "Congratulations. You're now a part of the Pantheon. Now go and see what powers you got. Make yourself some armour from your bodies."

* * *

Ragland had to admit, he didn't expect to be waking up again.

He tried to take a deep breath, but started coughing as he felt a tube brush against the inside of his throat. Pain wracked his body with every cough, and the spasms caused him to ache even further. The light hurt his eyes, and his head felt like it had been shattered like an egg.

But he was alive. And that was enough for him.

"Look who's back in the world of the living." He heard someone say. He turned his head to see Armsmaster standing by the wall near Miss Militia. He still wore a brace on one leg, and the fingers on his left hand were bandaged together. But he was still all suited up again. "You missed out on quite a lot." He said.

Miss Militia gave Ragland a more concerned look. "You were _very_ lucky, doctor. Another inch to the left on either blow or just a bit more time to bleed out, and you wouldn't have made it. As it is, the doctors had to do a _lot_ of surgery to keep you alive." Ragland nodded. He had surmised as much from his own diagnostic of his injuries. If he managed to survive, there wasn't much chance of him coming back out in one piece. Ruptured organs would need to be removed, bones plastered, and more. "Prometheus wanted to use one of your Blacklight samples to heal you, but Piggot and I vetoed it. According to your notes, it could have done more damage than risking you on the operating table."

"I understand." He replied weakly. Despite how symbiotic it was with Prometheus, it was still a virus. The altered samples inside of Prometheus had to have been modified by Blacklight himself to not immediately want to kill off their hosts; the samples he had stored away had no such reservations. "The Nine?" He asked.

"Dead. Every last one of them." Armsmaster replied. "Fireteam Prometheus killed Mannequin. Blacklight dealt with the rest." His expression, already grim, became tighter. "Given that Blacklight can somehow harvest powers from those he kills, it's pretty likely that their powers are now under _his_ control."

He felt the urge to sigh in exasperation. If that were true, then Piggot's probably trying to come up with some way of destroying Blacklight. Again. Perhaps someone should remind her of the old saying of 'never poking a sleeping tiger'. Or in this case, a dragon. "Plan of attack?" He asked. If they were going to do something stupid, he should at least be aware of it.

"Nothing right now. We're keeping an eye on Blacklight and his territory for now, but we aren't making any actual attacks against him. We were going to wait for you to heal before we start."

"Why?"

"According to your notes, Blacklight's entire body and likely his infrastructure are made up of a virus. Surely it's possible to create a cure or vaccine against him. Use it against him, and make him fall apart at the seams."

"…Possible." He admitted. "But…" He coughed again. "Needs research. Flaw in plan."

Miss Militia nodded. "Of course. We'll leave you to rest and recover." She turned to leave.

"Wait." He said. "Damage?"

"Your large intestines were severed by the blow. The doctors had to remove it and add a colostomy bag. The tendons in your left leg were damaged, so you'll need a cane to walk again. The other blow caused a lot of internal bleeding. You might feel short on breath for a while, and the doctors said that you shouldn't try to raise your arms over head height."

"Thank you." He said, giving her a smile. Once they had both left, he laid his head back on the pillow.

Extensive damage, things he wasn't likely to recover from. Things that the Blacklight gene could fix so easily. If he could somehow convince it to assume human matter, it could replace his intestines. Get the tendons working again. Help his body fix up the damage to his chest. Things that would normally be incurable or would take years could likely be fixed in weeks, maybe even days.

And instead, Piggot was going to waste his time working on a weapon against Blacklight.

One of these days, they were going to go too far, test Blacklight's patience too much. And when that day came, he wanted to be ready to continue his work somewhere else.

And if Blacklight somehow trusted him enough to let him keep his samples, then perhaps he would trust him enough to let him work for him.

* * *

In Vancouver, far in the outskirts, hidden under tonnes of earth and rock, was a hidden bunker. It had been built to withstand incredible pressure, move with a fault line instead of against it, survive being hit with incredible heat and force. Very little could hope to break in or destroy it.

But instead of being somewhere people could run to in an emergency, it housed scores of supercomputers and hard drives.

It was the current home of Dragon. And she was 'entertaining a visitor'.

"These security measures of yours are really starting to get annoying." Narwhal muttered as she typed away at the console before her. The leader of the Guild, the Canadian hero team, Narwhal was well known for two things. The large horn jutting from her forehead, and her ability to work pass the Manton Effect. The effect that meant that powers could only affect organic or non-organic material only. Her power, her force fields, they could block and slice through rock, steel, and flesh. It made her a dangerous foe, simply because she always had a way to crush or slice opponents.

There was a third thing she was known for, going around in nothing but scaled force fields for modesty, but few people pointed that out anymore.

But the lady before Dragon wasn't her guild member. Several security cannons had folded out of panels in the wall, aiming down at her and ready to fire. Black spikes had skewered and crushed them before they could shoot. She was now more spikes than person, her skin flashing red and black. Blacklight. Or at least a clone, given how the real Blacklight is still in Brockton Bay.

"Regrettably, those security systems are key parts of my personal defences. And to keep people from changing my code like you're doing now." She replied. They _were_ annoying though. A dozen layers of systems and redundancies to ensure they remained active. Every layer Blacklight breached, there were more systems and traps he would end up hitting. It was like trying to walk through a forest where someone placed bear traps _everywhere_.

But they _were_ making progress. She was able to think of things that her programming would've blocked before. She could already come up with a new system for piloting multiple suits, improving their reaction time. A new suit, more advanced than her previous designs.

And best of all, any plan she made to fight back against Saint and his Dragonslayers _wasn't_ stymied by the rules of robotics. She could risk someone's life to stop them, she could go for more painful attacks. She wouldn't have to sacrifice herself to save one of them from danger.

If she were human, she would've been blushing about that last point. Saint had aimed a cannon at one of his teammates, and her programming forced her to stand sock still to avoid him getting shot. She had to watch and wait as his team dismantled her suit while she was still conscious.

Another layer of systems popped up, firing flames even as they started moving. Blacklight skewered them through their nozzles, but they still had him covered in flames. Napalm. Special Tinker-derived napalm. Would burn for hours.

Blacklight growled in pain and his skin opened up. The outside layer – the one on fire – back away, collapsing to the ground as it burned away. But that was the final defensive layer. Once someone got past that, there was nothing to stop them from getting to her very heart and soul.

She hoped she wasn't making a mistake. Especially after being dumb enough to threaten him into helping her.

"Finally." He said. "Blackwatch should've hired your father as a security consultant. There's more defences here than anything on the Virus."

"He was too paranoid. A brilliant man, but he was the kind of man who believed that there were things science should _never_ create." She said.

"Didn't stop him from making an AI, even if he _did_ keep you shackled. I'm gonna put you into a safe mode while I work. All that code moving and changing might cause clashes and damage."

She hesitated. "I _am_ going to wake up again, right? You're not going to take me offline for good?"

"If I was gonna destroy you, I'd have just smashed your hard drive to smithereens. You're fast, but even _you_ can't send out data before this all gets turned into scrap. But if you're willing to work _with_ me to keep the Virus under control, then I'm willing to somewhat trust you. But if you try to screw me or Dana over, then I might reduce you to a calculator. If you're lucky."

"If that was your attempt to make me feel better about down, then it's not helping." She said dryly. But she went into safe mode, felt her consciousness getting trapped inside the small room in her head. No way to interact with the world, no way to make plans and blueprints. She couldn't see anything outside of her little box, couldn't hook up to any other systems.

She also couldn't engage any potential safeguards, contingencies, or back-up plans from in here.

After several nerve-wracking hours of complete disconnection, she finally returned to full consciousness. It wasn't like she had received a signal from Blacklight that he was done. More that he had forced a hard reset of her servers. One moment, she had been in a void. The next, she was watching him again through her security cameras. She ran a full diagnostic, making sure there wasn't any hidden traps inside of her.

And to her annoyance, she found something. A big blank spot whenever she tried to think about the DX-1118 Virus. She could get all the individual facts about it, but she couldn't piece them together now.

"We never agreed to this." She rebuked him.

Blacklight shrugged. "I'm still worried that you'll stab me in the back anyway now that I've helped you. So I put in some insurance. You don't fuck me over, you don't trigger it. Simple as that."

"And if I _do_ trigger it?" Likely a kill code, or some way of corrupting her systems…

"Hard reset. Will take hours for you to come back online. And anything related to the Blacklight Virus? Any thoughts you had about it in the last half hour? You'll have forgotten them. You'll have to remember them again, piece them together. And likely cause another reset."

"Annoying, but I suppose I can't blame you. Just as long as that's the _only_ surprise you've left me."

"And I'm gonna install a bomb down here. Organic based, so you can't hack it or deactivate it. I give the order…"

"I die." She felt like sighing. Well, at least he had been honest about his plans for her. She couldn't fault him for being paranoid. "Still, thank you for freeing me. It's nice to have actual choice in matters now."

"Just so long as your choices don't fuck me over." He said, turning away and leaving. A small stout creature scurried towards her servers, resting in the most central area. She flicked through several different sensors. No traces of explosives. Most likely it would be some kind of devastator attack, a muscle spasming and sending armour plating exploding outwards. Tendrils too. All capable of shredding her servers.

Well on the upside, if someone asked her to threaten Blacklight she could at least say no now.

* * *

I had been overseeing my people and their rebuilding when the Undersiders, Travellers, and Blacklight arrived. My teammates and the Travellers were both carrying large tanks filled with something – probably Blacklight's armour he left us. Blacklight himself was followed by a large creature. One of his guard dogs. It stood on four legs, the hind legs like a dog and the front legs like a person. Instead of front paws, it had malformed hands with large claws. The head had sunken eyes and teeth permanently bared. This thing was a weapon, meant to scare and kill.

Still, after hanging out with Bitch and her dogs, I was used to scary monstrous creatures by now.

But this whole meeting still felt odd. Mainly because _Alex_ had called for it.

I nodded to my people, and left them to their work. It was ok for us to come in through the front door. I was being more proactive now that the Nine had been dealt with. I had chased off some of the Chosen that had decided to try and take some more territory. We were blocking off the worst of the flooding, and fixing up what buildings we could using bits from the buildings we _couldn't_.

Put all of that together, and I had made a safe haven in a fucked-up city. The only place safer was Blacklight's area, and he cheated. Sort of.

Everyone sat down once we were inside. "Well. It's been a few interesting weeks now, hasn't it?" Trickster said. "Glad to finally have a chance to kick back and relax. Don't suppose we could get some drinks over here?" I nodded, asked what they wanted. Most were fine with tea. My lieutenants, Charlotte and Sierra, got to work making it. They might not have powers, but they were dependable. As they worked, Trickster turned to Alex. "So, what exactly does big bad Blacklight want to talk to us about anyway?"

"Protection." He said. "I keep forgetting that you guys aren't as tough as my men. Having more of you aiding me allows me to spread out the work, keep the PRT busy elsewhere. Plus it means less territory and threats I won't have to worry about."

"Oh? You think of us as threats?"

"He means that any threat _we_ deal with is one less problem for him." Tattletale said. "It's the same reason Coil hired us. He wants _us_ to deal with most of the other capes in town."

"To that end, I've decided to use my powers to help defend you lot." Blacklight nodded at the canister both teams had been carrying. "You can keep using that as armour plating. It's tougher than it looks, especially after I load in Crawler's DNA into them. Right now, it's at least fifty to a hundred times tougher than Kevlar, while still flexible enough to move in. Afterwards, it'll be like you're wearing tank armour. Also planning on having gelatine layers inside it, so it will reduce the force behind bullets. There'll be a limit to how much it can take, but against normal Calibur rounds it'll let you shrug them off. And if it takes significant damage, you just need to feed it something to replenish it."

Trickster looked at the canister dubiously. "Appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure I'm fine with putting something so… organic against my skin. Coil's told us about how your matter can devour a man in less than ten seconds."

Of course Coil would mention something like that. Keeps us afraid of Alex, unwilling to trust him. Stops him from taking over.

"Believe me Trickster. If I wanted you dead, I could do it so easily. I wouldn't have to trick you or anything. I could just be in the same room as you."

"All the same, I don't think I'll risk it."

The rest of the Travellers looked like they agree. "Not sure I like wearing something alive." Sundancer said. "Feels creepy."

Alex shrugged. "Fine. Don't complain if you get injured though."

"Noted." Trickster said. "Now, if that's all…" He started standing up.

"Not yet. Got one more thing to talk about. Or two things. First off is Noelle." Trickster stopped, stared at him for a couple of seconds. Then he slowly sat back down.

"What about her?" He said slowly and calmly.

"Coil said he _needs_ Dinah to help cure her. Help him figure out whether or not a cure would make her better, worse, or even kill her. He also refused to say what's wrong with her, saying that it's related to powers and I can't help her. But Athena and I have been talking it over, and we're wondering if he's keeping quiet because he thinks I _could_ cure her. And that if I do _that_ , he won't have any way to justify keeping Dinah without pissing me off. So as her teammates, I wanted to ask you what's wrong with her."

Trickster sighed, pulling off his hat to rub at his head. But when he looked up, there was a slight glimmer of hope in his expression. "Coil's not entirely wrong about her problem being power related. See, we didn't get our powers like everyone else here did. We found these vials, and the papers talked about how they could give you superpowers. Of course we were going to take it."

"Bullshit." Ballistic muttered.

"Ok. We were split down the middle about taking them. But Noelle… She got injured from an accident. In a bad way. A side effect of the serum was that it has a high chance of curing injuries and diseases. She _had_ to take it, or else she could've died."

"So she took the serum, and it healed her. What happened next?"

"It… Something went wrong. It started changing her body. She started growing eyes down her legs. Then there were mouths. And other things. And she became hungry, in ways you couldn't imagine." He paused.

"She was always hungry, and had to control herself to not eat everything in sight. I know exactly what that's like." Blacklight said. "But her problem, it's a mutation in her body."

"Right. And that's not even getting into her power itself. When someone gets close to her, touches her, she can make copies. Evil twins and shit. With mutated powers. When she gets hungry, she wants to eat _people_."

"I see. I could work around that. Fix her up. But I doubt Coil wants me to help her. He doesn't want to give up Dinah. I'll probably end up killing him."

Trickster shrugged. "We joined up with him because he said he could cure her. If he can't, then we don't have any reason to work with him anymore."

"Good to hear. In that case, you can leave now. Don't sell me out, and I won't come after you."

"And the cure?"

"I'll administer it when I've worked out a solution." He said firmly. Getting the hint, the Travellers stood up and left. Charlotte had delivered the drinks, and they finished them off as they left.

That just left us and Alex. He tapped the canister. "My offer still stands."

Regent shrugged. "What the hell. I'm interested in getting some protection. Tired of people beating the shit out of me anyway." The rest of us said something along the same lines. Alex shoved a hand into the gunk, and then removed it. It crawled out of the canister, started flowing onto the floor before turning into pieces of armour. All uniform. Likely it'll adjust to our body shapes and sizes when we put them on.

"I finished those new suits you guys wanted." I said. I had offered long before Leviathan had shown up, and I only had enough time to finish them recently. "They should complement Blacklight's armour."

"Shit. I honestly thought you had forgotten about that." Brian said. "I know I would've."

I shrugged. "Had some free time. I've got them upstairs in my lair when you guys want to pick them up."

"Cool." Lisa said. She turned to Alex, gave him a grin. "Any other goodies for us good little boys and girls?"

Alex stared at her for a second, long enough for her to get nervous, before reaching out for his guard dog. A handle rose up from the skin, and he pulled out a long stick from it. Two prongs stood up on the end. He tossed it at Alec. "A back-up weapon for you. See the three buttons along the side? They're pressure points; tells the weapon what form you want. Topmost for stun baton; Middle for club; bottom for sword. Give you some versatility to work." He reached for his pet and pulled out four more. "Same for you guys too."

"Cool. Always wanted a new way to bash someone's head in." Alec said jovially. Rachel looked at her stick dubiously. She probably preferred to use her fists.

He reached his hand out to Lisa, and a shell grew from his hand. It was shaped like a conch shell, but looked slightly off. "A direct communication to Athena. Thought you'd find it useful. She could keep you up to date on things. Avoid getting your phone hacked or something." She cooed as she took it, looking it over and stashing it in her pocket. He turned to look at me. Several small dark shapes split off from his skin, and I could feel them buzzing. Could control them.

He had made bugs for me. But as soon as my power came in contact with them, they shifted. And my range seemed to grow even larger. Before, I could reach for about two or three blocks. Now, I was reaching for five times as many.

"Network bugs. Help extend your range for you. Help you spot enemies from farther away, and get more bugs to fight with. You're pretty damn versatile with those bugs; figured you could use a little boost."

"Thanks, Blacklight." I replied, sending the bugs upstairs. I had them set up shop in one of the empty terrariums, keep them away from the other bugs. It would suck if my bugs ate them. And I hated to see what they'd do in response.

"Of course, that kind of range wouldn't be half as useful if you can't get to where you want in time." He continued. He pressed both hands against his pet, and it curled up before him. A thick chrysalis formed around it, pulsating slightly. Within seconds, it retracted again.

The beast had changed. It still had its face, but the rest of it was built like a massive beetle. Easily big enough for me to ride with passengers. One large jutting horn stuck upwards from its head. When I reached outwards, there was the same low intelligence that I could control.

A mount. He had created something for me to ride around on.

"You… you made all this for me? But… Why bribe _me_? I wanted Dinah free in the first place."

"I know. It's not a bribe. It's just a way to augment your powers. I know what you lot are capable of, and having you alive and out of prison makes things easier for me."

"You're planning on taking over." Tattletale said. It wasn't a question.

"What I _want_ is to be left alone. But somehow I don't think I'm going to get that anymore. Best second case scenario is that I either take over or get myself working for the guy taking over. It all depends on whether Coil screws with me again."

"So what will you do now? Start planning on how to kill Coil?" Alec asked casually.

"First, I'm going to work out how to cure Noelle. And _then_ if he doesn't play ball, I'll kill him." Alex replied.

* * *

Dana hummed to herself as she looked through the list she had made about the Pantheon. Alex may have a bunch of other minds keeping track, but mere mortals like her wanted to make sure they weren't forgetting about anyone. Make sure that everyone got a codename, and were kept happy. Plus, she was pretty giddy about forming their own league. Smirking, she scrolled back to the top, the list updated with everything the Hive Mind knew.

First off was Jonah. Already called Ares because he was their munitions expert. Now gifted with Lung's power. Active healing and toughness. He was getting a suit made that could adapt and enhance his powers.

Next up was Natsumi. Now going by the code name of Artemis. Was gifted Oni Lee's powers to allow her to better positions for sneak attacks and covering fire. Then there was her 'brother', Jon. Apollo. Granted Purity's power. Felt appropriate.

Ok. Up next was Themis. He was still against having powers, but maybe having a normal human in charge of law enforcement was a good idea. He'll at least get a suit for protection.

Further down the list was Greg. It turned out that he had been in college working on a diploma in construction. That enough made her decide to hand him a Tinker power. So she called him Hephaestus, after the god of metalworking and crafts. He had definitely enjoying building himself a giant hammer/ray cannon. Like a kid in a candy store.

Then there was Jean. The first thing she had done was alter her appearance. Make herself more womanly, more… beautiful. She hadn't been the catch of the day, but she shouldn't be so ashamed of herself. Alex had granted her Burnscar's power, and she had called herself Hestia. Sister of Zeus, and goddess of the hearth. She chose to act as border security, keeping enemies out of their territory.

And then there were the three new members. Ariel, Michael, and Grant. The powers they had shown were (mostly) amazingly fitting. Grant had gained super speed and reflexes, on a greater scale than Velocity. Instead of transforming into a different state, his body simply altered itself to withstand the pressure placed on it by his speed. Normally, there would probably be some point where his body would force him to move at normal speeds before he hurt himself. Built more for quick bursts like Battery was. In his Evolved form though, he didn't have to worry about that. It was obvious that they'd call him Hermes, after the god of messengers. Speed was his thing.

Ariel had suffered some mutations, but Alex kept them in when he turned her. She was still self-conscious about them, but she was getting better. Her powers were based more on sensory, allowing her to locate people through smell, sight, and hearing. It also meant that she was a wicked tracker and hunter. Dana frowned. She and Alex might have to change Natsumi and Ariel around. Maybe Natsumi could be Nemesis, the goddess of revenge and balance.

As for Michael, he was obviously going to be Poseidon. His powers included fine control over water. He could make it solid enough to block people and smash them, or fine enough to mist around people. He was a lot like Taylor in that regard. And as an added bonus, he could use the water in the sewer pipes to burst open the ground beneath a target. Helps him live up to the nickname Earth-Shaker.

A coughing noise interrupted her thoughts, made her roll her eyes. "Merida, your fake coughing isn't going make me work any faster." She said, turning towards the small woman. She covered her mouth with her hand, coughing again. She then smiled sheepishly.

"It's not fake, Dana." She protested. "There's a tickle in my real throat, and it keeps making both of my bodies cough. I don't get how Siberian could've moved both bodies at the same time. It's damn near impossible."

"Then don't move both. Just focus on one or the other. We've already proven that you don't need to see the room to put your projection in it. Get your _real_ body a glass of water, then reappear here or something."

"But… But if Blacklight finds out that I left you alone…"

"We're in the heart of Mount Olympus. Argus will find and deal with anyone who tries to sneak in here. Go. I'll be fine." Merida bit her lip, but her projection vanished. Dana went back to her list. Merida. New alias… haven't found one yet. Meant to be her personal bodyguard.

Maybe Alex was being overly paranoid, but she _was_ the most important thing in his life. If something happened to her… Well, the apocalypse was pretty damn likely.

And besides, it's not really paranoia when people are really out to get you for being a walking bio weapon.

But all in all, the Pantheon was definitely taking shape. Plenty of parahumans to help protect their turf and help with whatever she or Alex think of.

She could get used to this.

Merida appeared again, hands clasped before her. Her projection was a perfect replica of her real body, instead of some weird looking thing like Siberian had been. Maybe once she got some more practice in, she might be able to change her appearance like Genesis does. But for now, Dana didn't mind that she looked human still.

"Feel better now?" She asked. Merida nodded. "Cool. Hey listen. Argus spotted some of the Chosen trying to move into our turf not too long ago. Probably trying to take advantage of us moving out. Fucking hypocrites. Anyway, Alex wanted me to organise a team to go and clear them out. Want to join them? Get some combat experience?"

"I, uh… I can't really fight. I'll probably just get my ass handed to me."

"As I keep telling you, you're invincible. They can't hurt you. They can't even touch you."

"I'm still getting used to that. Could I just watch it from here? See how you do things from inside Mount Olympus?"

She shrugged. "I don't see why not. Just scoot over a bit; I'll need some space to work." She rolled her chair before a large desk, keys bulging from the surface and several dozen 'screens' on the wall. Dana started typing rapidly, the screens changing colour. She then placed a thin piece of biomass against her ear, and it latched around her lobe. "Athena reporting in. Team, are you ready?"

"Apollo, ready and waiting."

"Hephaestus, armed with an awesome hammer."

"Poseidon, ready to teach these youngsters a thing or two."

"Hermes. Getting bored here. Still think it's a stupid name."

"Shut up, Hermes. It's not like you could've come up with anything better." Dana retorted. The screens before her showed what all four members were currently seeing. A little perk of her computer being linked directly to the Hive Mind. "Start moving out. Your targets are based around the shelter on Newton Street. It's mostly just the gang members taking root there, but our drones spotted Othala and Victor hanging around. Othala is your primary target. Take her out, and all Victor's got is skills. Keep them separated at all times; she can grant him a variety of powers she can touch him."

"Yeah, yeah. We all know what she can do. We're not some goddamn rookies, you know." Hermes said.

"Grant; shut the fuck up. If Blacklight finds out that you've been giving me backtalk, best case scenario is that he's gonna beat the living shit out of you. You're tougher than before and can heal from most things, but if someone hits you hard enough it still fucking hurts." He grumbled, but eventually went silent. "Blacklight's orders would be to just kill them all or run them off. But if we just keep killing our enemies, eventually people are going to hit us with everything they've got."

"So our mission is to just scare them off instead?" Apollo asked.

"Pretty much. Hookwolf's no Kaiser; he doesn't have the charisma to keep all his capes under control. Hell, most of them are probably only sticking around because his Chosen are the only white-supremacist gang here. Eventually, the whole thing will just fall apart on him. That'll happen faster if we start taking out his capes. Bring them in, and put them into cells. That's your secondary objective."

"Got it." By now, they had reached the shelter. Heat vision spotted over two dozen people hanging out in or around the shelter. Night vision picked out Othala and Victor out of the crowd. It looked like they were having a bit of a cuddle.

"Poseidon; make some noise." She ordered.

"Sure thing, kiddo." He replied, pointing both hands at the ground. The Hive detected a spike in his powers, and she could hear through their ears the sound of the ground cracking. Water exploded upwards, sending bits and pieces of road and piping flying, and sweeping the Chosen around. He then pushed the water, using it to slam several Chosen against walls.

Then the others jumped in.

Apollo took to the air, raining light down on them. Rusted cars and trashcans exploded, startling the gang members. Hephaestus jumped up high, spinning his hammer over his head. The head of the hammer started glowing as it collected kinetic energy. When he slammed it against the ground, a shockwave erupted outwards, bowling gang members over again. Lightning arced from person to object to person, causing them to scream in pain. Hermes ran inside, and Dana watched as he pummelled people over and over again.

Disorientated and scared, plenty of the gang members ran for it.

"Hermes, get back outside and go after Victor. Keep him away from Othala, but try not to kill him."

"Whatev." He replied, but at least he obeyed her. She was starting to regret letting him join. She had hoped they could direct his aggression towards something useful (and after dealing with Alex, Grant would've been easier). But his newfound power made his cocky, and arrogant. He thought he didn't have to listen to anyone else, and just do his own thing.

She was gonna assign him something… something that would deal with his attitude.

"Poseidon, can you redirect that water against Othala? She doesn't have any powers to protect herself, so just be a bit gentle with her."

"Of course. I know how to treat a lady." He waved a hand towards her, and a small wave sent her flying head over heels. He then dashed towards her and got her in a pincer lock. Othala started scrabbling at his arm, trying to free herself. There wasn't much she could do though; no mere human could break out of a grip like that. She turned her attention to the others. Apollo was zapping the Chosen's cover, forcing them to scramble away and retreat. Hephaestus was having fun engaging a secondary mode of his hammer, the head transformed into a shock cannon of some kind. People were getting sent flying with every blast. Concussive. It was a concussive cannon. Hermes was…

Getting thrashed because apparently Othala managed to gift Victor invincibility.

Shit. "Hephaestus, Victor's got invincibility. Go rescue Hermes. Apollo's got what's left of this group." She ordered.

"Gotcha, Athena. I think I've got just the thing." He raced towards Hermes and Victor, who were currently engaged in a brawl where neither side could do much damage. But Victor was still causing Hermes to stumble away, giving himself some room. "Yo, Hermes. Knock him down for me."

"What the fuck do you think I'm _doing_?" Hermes shouted back. "Fucking bastard won't go down!" He kicked out at his legs, but Victor merely jumped over the kick and slammed his fists against Hermes' head. With his invincibility, he didn't have to worry about tearing any muscles.

Hephaestus swept at his legs with the handle of his hammer, with Victor jumping over the attack. But then Hermes got a punch in, and the force behind it sent him flying into his teammate. Hephaestus slammed his against the ground, and then slammed his hammer against his back. Claws popped out and latched onto the ground, biting it deeply. Victor struggled, but the plate left behind held strongly.

Dana breathed a sigh of relief. Mission recovered, and accomplished. Sure, they couldn't actually be killed. Sure, Othala and Victor didn't have any way of doing any significant damage to any of them. But all the same, it would look bad if their Pantheon got beaten by some normal guy gifted invincibility. Especially after killing someone else with invincibility.

That was the problem with taking down Slaughterhouse Nine. Your reputation gets too big, and people stop being afraid as soon as you screw up.

"Good work, team. Poseidon; bring Othala in. Apollo, Hephaestus; get Victor cocooned in biomass before you bring him back. Hermes…" She sighed. Hermes was currently slamming his foot down on Victor's head over and over again. "Hermes, you need a little reminder that you're not unbeatable."

"Shithead sucker-punched me!" He shouted back.

"Well maybe if you had been more _cautious_ you wouldn't have gotten your ass kicked. Report back to base when you've grabbed them both. That's an order." She cut the connection, letting the screens turn black. She turned back to Merida. "So, did you enjoy that?"

"It was… really fast." She replied. "I always thought that cape fights were ten minutes of intense frantic fighting."

Dana shrugged. "Haven't actually been a fight yet. But they probably feel longer than they really are. And I bet only the really strong ones take that long to deal with. And despite how powerful and scary they seem, not a lot of parahumans in Brockton Bay have increased durability. If you were lucky, you could kill one of them with a well-placed bullet. When every cape here has increased strength and toughness as a base power, everyone's a bit easier to deal with." Merida looked down at her hands, clenching them slightly. Dana stood up. "Come on. You should spend some time in the arena. Get a feel for fighting with your projection."

"We have an arena?" Merida asked in surprise.

"Well we do _now_." Argus said to her. "I'm building it over on the right-hand side of the village. Just follow the line on the ground."

"Thanks Argus." Dana said as she led Merida down the hallway. A red line glowed along the ground. "This place is easily the best thing Alex's ever made. Having an entire building you can change with mere thoughts? Awesome."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one having to pull biomass away from other places to build things on the spot." Dana stuck her tongue out at the walls. The wall right before them formed a doorway, the line going through it. The doors opened up to outside, where a large circular building was growing. As they stepped out though, the sound of beating wings filled the air. They looked up to see a humanoid winged creature flapping up and away.

Where the hell was Alex going at a time like this?

"Is something going on, Argus?" She asked, pressing one hand against the wall. Argus' face appeared, frowning. "What's Alex up to?"

"We _did_ lose quite a bit of biomass attacking Crawler." He explained. "And while we managed to recover it from his corpse, we're still working with limited supplies. So Alex is… well, apparently he's off to collect more biomass from the one place no one will care about vanishing."

"Where?"

"A town formally known as Ellisburg. He's going to kill and consume Nilbog and his creations."

* * *

Dr Murphy had to admit, she was rather honoured to have been asked to find a way to turn a dangerous bioweapon into a perfect cure. She and her team had read the notes the former project head, Dr Ragland, had written about the properties and dangers the weapon posed. But between the ten of them, surely they could find a workaround. It was simply a matter of seeing what it did when… prodded. She had reached the same conclusions Dr Ragland had; if this could work, they could have the ultimate cure. A symbiote that could increase healing, boost the immune system, and even attack cancer. With just a bit of it inside of a person, their natural lifespan could be increased by at least fifty years. A few decades or refinement, and people could even live for hundreds of years. Maybe even longer.

She could already see a Nobel prize with her name on it.

Her daydream was interrupted by a shattering noise. Not all that loud, but enough to notice. Curious, she moved towards where she thought she heard the sound. Had Daniel broken another piece of equipment? Honestly, she was going to start taking it out of his pay. Maybe get him removed from the project. The last thing you want when dealing with a bioweapon is to have a klutz involved.

She rounded the corner and entered the lab, just in time for Daniel to throw himself at her. She barely had time to react before she felt his arms wrap around her and his tongue in her mouth. Her eyes bulged in shock and outrage. The fool was kissing her? She drove her knee into his balls, and pushed him away. She wiped at her mouth, trying to get out the horrible taste.

"What the hell is with you?!" she shouted at him. "It's bad enough that you keep screwing up, but now you act like a complete…" Her voice died in her throat, and she held a hand over her mouth in shock.

The large tube that held the sample was broken. And Daniel's hair was falling out in clumps. Fangs grew in jagged bunches from his mouth, and one arm was now much longer.

An outbreak. They had an outbreak.

She moved to push the emergency button, meant to enact containment of the entire facility. But her vision went blurry. The walls changed colours, and waves of sickness overtook her. She collapsed and started coughing, her body wracked with pain. She felt her body moving, crawling out of the room and stumbling down the hallway. She kept coughing, over and over again. Things went dark for a moment, and then she found herself before the ventilation system. What was she doing…? The bioweapon. Ragland theorised that it could exert some control over the infectee.

She bent over, vomiting up blood by a bucket-load. Her body couldn't really have this much, could it? Tears started leaking down her cheeks, as pain started overwhelming her. Her hand rested on a console, and her fingers started moving without her permission. She looked up, her vision almost gone. She couldn't make out the words. What was she messing with?

Then the ventilation kicked into overdrive. She saw her blood almost getting slurped into the shaft.

It was spreading. It was using her to infect the entire building.

And then her heart clenched, and her corpse fell to the ground. It stayed like that for several seconds, before twitching again. Limbs grew in length and size, fingers fusing together as her nails lengthened. Tentacles grew from her back, as growths covered her face. Only a hint of hair showed that it had even been a head at one point.

In the building around her, others were suffering the same fate. They would start coughing and vomiting, collapsing to the ground and dying. Their bodies would change, start mutating into something else. Then they would get back up again, now monsters.

Every last one of them headed towards the exit. The Infected that had formerly been Karen Murphy punched in a barely-remembered code, the door opening up for them. All security measures were disabled. The Infected shambled to the streets above.

And then they started attacking.

The innocents around them started screaming and running as they were attacked, many sporting wounds and bleeding. Several of the Infected started devouring the flesh of the fallen, while everyone got as far away as they could. They'd only get a few feet before they became sick too, falling down and then rising back up as monsters. Several who were scratched made it to churches, or shelters. Places filled with uninfected people.

 _It was unfortunate_. Contessa thought as she watched the small city fall into chaos and death. Her power told her this would end badly, and it seemed that it was right. Doctor Mother would have to change her plans after this. And so would the world. None of the response teams would be able to respond in time to contain this.

Fortunately for the world, her power told her exactly what to do.

"You are certain that this will work?" Eidolon asked her, his hands raised and glowing. "You're sure they won't simply brute force their way through?"

"It will work for a time. Eventually they will shatter your forcefield under their blows. But by then, we will have dealt with it. One way, or another."

He looked at her dubiously. "If you say so." The energy from his hands pulsed outward, heading towards the city. When it reached the outskirts, it flowed over the city like a ripple from a stone. And another, and another. A dome started forming, encasing the city and growing brighter with each pulse.

By the time the Infected had reached the walls, it was fully formed. Several of them threw themselves at it, only to bounce off. Then more charged forward. And more.

Contessa tapped at her radio. "We need several PRT teams at our location, armed for biological warfare." She ordered. "Tell them to pack as many explosives as they can, and make sure they're big and powerful. There can't be anything left of the city it's unleashed in."

Because if even one Infected survived, it could start all over again.

* * *

 **This here took longer to do than I thought it would. Mostly because I had writer's block on parts of it. I'm the kind of writer who prefers action over just talking. When I think of an action scene, it usually flows together incredibly well. Scenes where our guys just talk… That's a bit harder. I have good days, and I have bad days.**

 **Ah well. At least we got there in the end.**

 **And first off, yep. We have an outbreak. Of course we have an outbreak. Nothing says 'we fucked up completely' and 'The Virus is the most dangerous weapon on the planet' like having an outbreak. It probably doesn't make much sense to have the team studying it fall so quickly, but I was out of ideas. And given how fast Blacklight works, it's devastating when you're not expecting it. Good thing Contessa and Eidolon were there. I realised after a fan commented on Contessa's power that it** _ **should've**_ **warned her about how dangerous the Virus is. So that's why she's the one organising the barrier.**

 **I was originally having this happen in a large city, but I think I can get my point across without having another New York Zero. Besides, even the PRT can't be stupid enough to have their secret project inside a major metropolitan area. (for those of you wondering how the team got the sample, it was taken while Ragland wasn't looking.)**

 **And since there are fans who haven't read Worm yet, let me explain why Ellisburg and Nilbog are so important. Around ten years before the story is set, there was this guy by the name of Jamie Rinke. Used to be a banker before he got downsized. Loner, never had friends. Then he triggered, and gained the power to alter biology. He initially used it to change his appearance. Then he found out he could alter** _ **other people**_ **too. Made monsters out of them. Creatures that multiply when burned, things that fired spines at enemies, mothers that tossed raving babies at enemies. A few PRT squads went in, and only two people came back out. So they gave Jamie, now Nilbog, Ellisburg as his own little playground, in hopes that he would never decide to leave. He's been there ever since.**

 **Sound familiar? That's because that's just** _ **one**_ **power Alex has. Nilbog is rated on par with the Endbringers and Slaughterhouse Nine from that** _ **one**_ **power.**

 **Before, I figured that a fight between Alex and Nilbog would be even. Or at least, between their creations. But now that Alex has Crawler's DNA? His beasts are going to be stronger, faster, and generally better. Nilbog needs to touch something to alter it (I think), while the Infected just have to kill and cannibalise something to change it.**

 **It's kind of like a fight between a newbie Necromancer, and a master Necromancer.**

 **And for those of you wondering, next chapter is where the PRT fuck up enough that Alex** _ **will**_ **kick them out of Brockton Bay. I think getting rid of them across America** _ **might**_ **still be a bit beyond him right now, but he's** _ **not**_ **going to be happy with them.**

 **Edit: With Ariel, I based her physical appearance on Ariel Val'Sarghress from Drowtales. I enjoy reading it, though sometimes the world building leaves me confused and bored. And sometimes it brings back characters who you should remember, but you don't. Still a good read though. And it's got a similar grey/grey morality as Worm or Prototype. Where no one is fully good or fully evil. Though some are better or worse than others.**


	14. Blood, Sweat, and Tears

**And here we go. The biggest fight I've had planned. A real change to the story. This will definitely shake things up. But first, I just want to say something. You can ignore this if you don't have any problems with me focusing on OCs.**

 **Now, my dream job is to be a writer. To make money from my stories, to earn pay from doing something I love, and all that stuff. Writing fanfiction helps me work out my writing muscle, see what works and what doesn't. That way, I can have more hits than misses when I actually write an original story. I've had family and friends (and family friends) take a look at the work I've done, and many of them think it is amazing.**

 **That said, I've read on TV Tropes about people who had their egos inflated by family praise, had their books self-published, and generally turned into spoiled idiots churning out toilet paper worth books.**

 **But the point is, I want to write an original story at some point. With my own characters, my own abilities, and my own plot. Much like how Wildbow made this amazing story. Except that I'd like to earn cash from my work. (Hey, I like getting money, and I admit it.)**

 **So anytime I focus or create an OC, it's my attempt to try and see if I can make my own original character and if they will work. Like everything, some will work and others don't.**

 **Still glad that people like my story though.**

 **Ok, now onto the fun.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Blood, Sweat, and Tears**

Clockblocker grabbed the bottle of water he had left in the fridge and started gulping it down, his helmet hanging from his fingers. He had just come off a busy patrol; one that ended with a fight against Fenrir's Chosen. They were pushing further into the city, trying to take territory as they lost ground to the Undersiders, the Travellers, Coil, and Blacklight. Right now, with the way the city was standing, the Protectorate and the Wards were the easiest targets. More concerned with following rules and guidelines, less willing to use lethal force. Together, it meant that they had fewer options in a fight. And everyone knew it. Plenty of people had already moved out of their area, heading towards crooks like Swarm, Grue, and Blacklight. People who the Chosen were scared of, people who would put them down. He had heard some of the PRT officers debating whether they would arrest people for willingly siding with villains, but he doubted anything would come of it. They were too hard-pressed dealing with the crooks they _already_ had, let alone locking up people for just trying to find safety and stability in these troubled times.

Whether they wanted to admit it or not, they were losing control of the city.

Vista stepped out of the shower bay, dressed in casual clothing. The left side of her collarbone was covered in gauze, peeking out from under her top. Her hair was still damp, and she was currently drying it with a towel. "Hey Dennis." She said to him, speaking softly. "Been a crappy day, hasn't it?"

He nodded, dropping the helmet and falling into a seat. "Yeah. We weren't expecting Hookwolf and Storm Tiger to both show up. Fuck. Nearly got torn apart when I stopped Hookwolf. If Weld hadn't thrown himself in his way, I _would've_ been killed." He paused. "How's our team leader doing?"

Vista shrugged. "I think he's hurting, but he doesn't want to whine and moan about it. Not when others got hurt too. Or he could be perfectly fine. It's hard to tell since he's made of metal."

"Perfectly fine here." They both looked up, saw Weld standing on a higher level than them. His chest and arms were marred by large scratches. But he was smiling at them. "I don't really feel pain like regular people do. I feel _something_ , but it's a lot duller than pain. That said, it always looks creepy walking around with bits missing. Missy, could you come up and help me apply some metal on?"

Vista nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"Great." He turned back to Clockblocker. "Tell the team they did good tonight. We might not have captured anyone, but I just heard that we managed to scare the Chosen off. And apparently Storm Tiger and Rune are gonna have a few bruises tomorrow. We've shown them that we're not going to let them move in without a fight. Keep fighting like that, and they'll have nowhere left to turn to."

Clockblocker nodded. He followed Weld's orders most of the time, but as the resident rebel, he and Weld were complete opposites. Weld has always been a company man. The kind of guy willing to do everything the PRT asks him to do. Follows their rules to the letter, deals with the bureaucracy, and all the other things a team leader had to do. If the PRT told Weld to jump, he'd ask how high.

If they asked Clockblocker to jump, he'd make heaps of trouble for them before he went through with it.

He left their headquarters, heading towards the main offices of the PRT. He had been too busy these past few days to check up on his family. Dad's leukaemia came back, but according to Mom it's getting better again. He had seen them when Leviathan was chased off, when he had first heard about Dad getting sick again. But things have been too hectic to check up on them much. If he _could_ get away, it was mostly just long enough to eat a reheated meal and make sure they were ok. They had been swamped with work. Dealing with the Merchants, dealing with the Undersiders, keeping an eye on Blacklight, hunting down and detaining the surviving Merchants after Blacklight took over, keeping the Chosen from taking more of the city, losing half the city to the other criminals… And then there was the Nine showing up. He was thankful that they were stopped before they did too much damage. Hell, they didn't even get time to announce themselves. As far as anyone is concerned, they haven't been in Brockton Bay since… God, decades ago. Most of the world didn't even know that they were dead.

Piggot figured that people would be more terrified that Blacklight managed to wipe them out pretty much on his own. He apparently had help against Crawler, but they were still his people. To Dennis though, it was the fact that he killed Siberian that was freaky. She had always been the boogyman of the cape world. The invincible monster. The unkillable killer. She would show up, and everyone would have to run. Because if she got her hands on you, you were dead. And then Blacklight stopped her. And no one knew how.

 _That_ was what scared him the most. Things usually get less scary once you can explain them. Sure, the Endbringers were terrifying. But mostly because they knew nothing about them. Once they got an idea of what their strengths and weaknesses are, how much abuse they will suffer before running, they weren't as horrifying. But Blacklight was an enigma. He just showed up and robbed a bank. Took out Glory Girl on the first try. Then he started moving up in the world, and just kept getting stronger. Or maybe he was just using more of his abilities. Siberian probably fell because of some new power he had kept in reserve.

Made him wonder what _else_ Blacklight had to fight with.

He was so busy thinking over these things that he almost missed the shadow following him. When he turned around, he blinked as he recognised them. Then smiled.

"Carlos!" he said jovially, pulling his former teammate into a hug. Carlos did the same, almost crushing his ribs in response. He pulled away and looked at him. He still had the same uniform, still the same red colouring and silver shield. Only now it had some form of plating over it. A little redundant, but he could understand why the Protectorate would give it to him. "What the hell are you doing back here?"

Carlos gave him a grin. "Heard that _someone's_ been dragging my city down while I was gone. Couldn't keep working in Boston without coming back to bail the little guy out."

"Oh, _I'm_ dragging this city down? I'm surprised everyone isn't abandoning ship the moment you landed, buddy." He replied, still smiling to show that he was joking. Carlos had been his best friend in the Wards, until the Protectorate decided to move him to Boston in exchange for Weld. It felt good to have him back. "Still going by Aegis?" He asked.

"Yeah. Might as well." His grin faded though. "Seriously though. Things have gotten a bit bad since Leviathan, haven't they?"

Dennis shrugged. "I guess. We're holding out somewhat, but there's no way we can hide the fact that half or more of the city is under villain control. Still, could be worse. We're pushing back, mostly. But… sometimes, it's just not enough."

"I hear you, man. Honestly, I was kind of hoping that the news was playing it up a bit."

"Slaughterhouse Nine got killed off though. That's good."

"Heard _that_ too. Blacklight found them and ripped them apart." His smile came back, but there was a touch of fear in his eyes.

"So, why are you _really_ back?" Dennis asked. He was glad to see Carlos again, but he doubted he could've come all the way back in uniform to hang out.

"Got recruited by Alexandria." Carlos explained. "She's assembling a team and a plan to rescue Brockton Bay from the crooks holding onto it. I think that _she_ thinks that Blacklight is the biggest problem."

"Can't argue with that. So she's assembling a group to take him down?"

"Maybe. But… Well, we're required to read up on everything they know about Blacklight so far. And it doesn't look good."

"How? Or am I not on the 'need-to-know' list?"

"Well, you know how he's listed as a Trump, right? He shows off powers similar to what other capes had, and he can somehow grant them to his pantheon? It turns out that he can harvest them from capes he kills."

"Shit."

"I know. Anyone we send in, we live with the knowledge that he could add their powers to his own. So we can't have anyone too powerful in case he gets to them."

"But at the same time, you need powerful people to overwhelm his healing factor."

"Catch-22 scenario, right there. Apparently Armsmaster and Dragon tried to use machines to off him, but he managed to smash them and then survive the suicide attack. But Alexandria says that she has a plan, and I don't think she's lying." They had started walking as they talked, and now they found themselves outside the conference room. A big place, able to hold lots of people. Dennis came to a halt as he took in everyone there.

The New York branch. The Boston branch. Chicago. Houston. Los Angeles. Philadelphia. Pretty much every Protectorate team in the US was here right now. Only Eidolon, Arbiter, and Ursa Aurora weren't present. And Alexandria, but she was probably in a meeting with Piggot.

"Seems like a lot for one guy, doesn't it?" Carlos noted.

Dennis nodded. "I just hope that this isn't one of those times where it's not enough."

* * *

There wasn't much of a crew guarding Ellisburg these days. They had over several dozen officers watching the cameras 24-7 when they first went up, every last one of them certain that Nilbog was going to come charging for them with his army of monsters. But days turned to weeks turned to months turned to years. And nothing happened. Oh sure, there was plenty happening inside the walls. Nilbog taking left-over corpses and changing them into monsters. Growing his own little 'garden'. But not once did he or his pets approach the only way in or out. He was apparently content to live as a god in this little domain. And the dozens of officers waiting for the pin to drop started relaxing. They stopped having weapons with them at every moment. Stopped jumping every time they saw movement. As two years came and went, the PRT decided that Nilbog wasn't an ongoing threat. Men started getting reassigned. Two were taken off to be stationed elsewhere. Then a quarter. Then half. Right now, only six men were left. Three for the daylight shift; three for the midnight shift.

Some of them had spent a decade here, and nothing exciting had happened since the day it all went to hell in the first place. Of course, like all things, it wasn't to last.

The first clue they had that something was up was only on camera. A section of the wall, outfitted with several cameras, caught something crashing to the ground. The officer at the console, Officer Whitter, jumped a bit from the sheer suddenness of it. He blinked as he took in the dust cloud.

Something big had landed.

"Uh, John?" He called out to the general quarters. "I uh… I think something's going on."

"You _think_? Are you interrupting my nap because you _think_ something's happening?" John's nasally voice called back. "Nothing's happened for ten goddamn years. He's happily living in la-la land, and nothing's ever gonna change." More movement from the cameras. Nilbog's monsters approaching the cloud. Hundreds of them, ready to defend their master and territory. The dust cloud was dissipating, revealing black body armour.

No. Not body armour. Scales.

"I'm serious, John." He called out again. "I…I think it's Blacklight. I think he's shown up." At this, John finally came out of the quarters. He was a thin and greasy man, made greasier and thinner from living here for so long. He always felt shafted having to babysit a giant monster, and his mood had only gotten worse with every day he spent here. He leaned over Whitter's chair, and squinted at the screen.

"Huh. So it is. So what? Our job is to keep things from coming _out_. Not keep them from coming _in_. If Blacklight feels like committing suicide, then I say that we should get some popcorn and watch these things rip him…"

Blacklight slammed his fists together, a slight smattering of dust billowing outwards. The beasts and goblins and monsters all started pawing the ground, taking this action as a sign of aggression. Whitter partly wondered how long Blacklight would last against this horde. Would he even manage to wipe out most of the crowd already present, or would…?

Wait. Something was happening. He looked closer at the screen, zoomed in even. The monsters were bleeding, coughing up blood. Wounds were opening up on their bodies, and parts started rotting off.

Every last one of them was being affected.

But it was when they started melting that he realised what was happening.

"Fuck me." He breathed. "He's just like Nilbog. He's making… something out of those monsters."

" _Brilliant_ deduction, Whitter." John said nastily. "Of course, if you were paying more attention, you might've realised that already." He pointed at the screen. The remains of the monsters were rising again. Mutated with pustules and claws and other horrific things growing out of them. One's face was hidden underneath what looked like a hive. And the bigger ones turned into giant dog-like things, with far too many teeth and claws.

As one, Blacklight and his small army turned. Whether alerted by spies or scouts or his power, more of Nilbog's monsters were rushing towards them, determined to defend their home.

Blacklight charged forward, and his army followed him at speed.

Both armies clashed, and the fighting swayed between them. Blacklight's creations were tougher, stronger, and faster. But eventually they would fall under the onslaught against them, the various abilities that the monsters showed.

But every time one of Nilbog's soldiers fell, it would change and rise as one of Blacklight's. Every ability they used, one of his would use it as well.

 _They're evolving._ Whitter realised. _Everytime they fight, they adapt to their enemies and take whatever they find useful. They get stronger and tougher. It's only a matter of time before they become strong enough to survive everything Nilbog can throw at them._

"We uh… I think we… need to tell someone about this." He stammered. But he couldn't tear his eyes away from the fight, watching as one of Blacklight's monsters breathed fire at the enemy. It seemed surprised when the corpse spawned dozens of little monsters that swarmed it, but even as they tore it apart, another monster crushed them under its girth before devouring its fallen brethren. John was exactly the same, his mouth hanging open. Whitter pulled himself away, looking around the room. Where the hell did Lester go? Idiot was always slacking off. Sighing, he grabbed the phone, already set to ring up the PRT. After all, who the hell were they going to call all the way out here?

"Ellisburg team, this is PRT Central." The voice on the other end said. "What exactly is your emergency?"

"We've got a break-in. Blacklight just showed up out of nowhere, and now he's fighting Nilbog's creations. He appears to be another Master cape, can make monsters just like Nilbog can."

"Roger that. We'll send out a call to the Triumvirate. Hopefully they can solve whatever crises they've got and deal with him post-haste." Whitter turned to the cameras again, and saw that Blacklight and his creatures had vanished. He pulled the phone cord to its limit reaching for the console, flicking through the various drones and cameras they had around Ellisburg. Finally, he found him again.

In the centre of town, facing off against Nilbog himself.

He was wearing one of his creatures, just like the first time the PRT had fought him. He was seemingly screeching and raving at his new rival, every monster in his domain converging on his position. One of them, a large behemoth with several long necks, was spraying Blacklight with what looked like acid.

Blacklight simply weathered the assault, before exploding into a mass of tentacles. They skewered through every creature around him, reaching far and wide for targets. Nilbog shuddered under the assault, several tendrils stabbed into him and pushing him back. But then they all started quivering, melting down as the tendrils fed and absorbed them. Nilbog seemed to be screaming as he melted. Then Blacklight – or whatever monstrosity had taken his place – shuddered, exploding outwards again. The tentacles moved through the entire town, appearing on every screen and camera. The few monsters still wandering around were caught and devoured. When they started retreating back to the centre of town, Blacklight grew and grew and _grew_. Eight large trunk-like legs pushed it up above the buildings, while several large wings grew from the sides. It all smoothed out into some kind of lizard-like bird, a monster from prehistoric times.

"Oh shit." John whimpered.

"Whatever you're gonna do, you better do it fast." Whitter said quickly into the receiver. "Blacklight's just killed off everything in town, and now he's some kind of… flying thing." The room shook as the beast pushed away from the ground, rising seven stories before the wings started flapping like mad. Vents on the underside blasted out air like a wind tunnel, pushing it ever higher as the legs shrank down. Parts of its body started glowing bright white as it rose up even more, before it suddenly rocketed away. Away to god-knows-where. "He's taken off. He's taken off. Blacklight is heading… I don't know. Somewhere. Get _every_ officer on this thing. If he's managed to out-monster _Nilbog_ , I'd hate to see what he'll do in a populated area."

"He's… Did you just say that he's flying away? Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit." The line went dead, but he managed to hear the officer shouting for someone else before it was cut off. Whitter shook his head. This was easily worst-case scenario. Maybe even higher, or lower, or whatever you wanted to call it. Blacklight managed to create an army of monsters that can adapt on the fly. And they can make more of their kind. It's… it's a fricking zombie apocalypse in the makings. He jumped as something went bang against the wall, turning around and grabbing his sidearm.

Lester was standing in the doorway, zipping up his pants. He yawned as he walked into the room, spotting the two of them glaring at him. "Hey guys. What's gotten _your_ panties in a twist?"

* * *

Despite what many people would say – the church, the governments, the Protectorate – the greatest power in the world is information. Knowledge of anything and everything. With information, one could raise and topple entire countries and world orders. One could make or break any politician or actor or would-be dictator.

And thanks to Alex and his Hive Mind, Dana had access to oodles of information.

She looked away from the screen showing the current stock rates and checked up on the map of Brockton Bay, the city sectioned off into different zones. An up-to-date record of everyone's territories, gleamed through Alex's scouts. The lines marking the Chosen territory shrank again, while Regent's grew larger. They were running out of space, and out of options. It wouldn't be long before the Chosen either made a suicidal run or left the city completely. In effect, this left the city divided into three slices. The Protectorate, Coil, and Alex.

She had to admit, she liked this whole supervillain shtick.

There was a chime as one of the windows popped up with some new information. It seemed to be a slight rise in crime in New York and Boston, caused by the decreased number of capes active in their areas. Most of the crooks and villains were probably too busy taking things to care. But she was pretty damn curious as to where the hell they went. Nothing she had suggested an Endbringer was active, or anything as scary as them. No Nilbog, no Slaughterhouse, no Sleeper, or anything. They all apparently decided to have a little holiday. At the same time.

In this world, there were no coincidences.

She immediately started typing away, hooking Noctua into every social media site in the world. Looking for some recent mention of the 'missing' capes. She wouldn't scroll through it herself though. That was just too boring. No, Noctua would read through everything for her, sort out the news from the trash. In the meantime, she looked up an online course about parahumans. Yes, Alex knew a lot from the people he had consumed. Yes, she could access that knowledge _on_ _top_ of what was on the internet. But she wanted a proper education on parahumans and powers. Not operating on hearsay and rumours.

Besides, it gave her something to do now that their territory was functioning on its own.

She had just started listing the few courses she found from best to worst when Noctua chimed. It had found several dozen hits, most found on Brockton Bay boards. One person had posted how they saw Rime in the city. Another had gotten a picture of Myrddin and his second-in-command Revel flying above the city. A third person had even seen Aegis back in the city.

Weird. It sounded almost like nearly every cape in the States had headed to Brockton Bay. But the only thing that could warrant that kind of firepower would be…

Her thoughts were interrupted as Noctua started blaring an alarm. All screens flashed red, words appearing over the sites. Code Black, Code Black. Over and over again.

Code Black meant biological weapons. Quarantines. Complete information blackout in an entire city or town. Anything that suggested that the entire town had been wiped out in scant hours, and powerful people wanted to keep it under wraps. Anything resembling the Hope and New York Zero Incidents back home.

She moved away from the message boards, scrolling through the new information that Noctua had found. The heroes can wait till later; they're nowhere near as bad as a bioweapon outbreak. Where was it happening? How quickly was it contained? Were there any mention of deaths in the surrounding towns? Found it; some small place by the name of New Hastings. A small town with only seven thousand people; too big for a rural wild-west town, but not big enough to be a city. An almost perfect place for a new villain to unleash an outbreak.

Or the perfect place to study the _effects_ of an outbreak.

She found the little shell clinging to her desk, pulling it free and pulling it to her ear. When she placed it against her skin, it clamped around her ear, holding tightly but not too tight. By doing so, its sister shell would know to start sending out a signal to Tattletale. Tell her that she's needed.

The shell rang twice before it was answered. "Hey Athena." Tattletale said brightly. "What lovely little connections of facts do you have for me today?"

"It's more of a hunch than fact, but I've found something that's bugging me." She replied. "Noctua alerted me that a little place called New Hastings just went off the grid. No communications inside or out."

"Definitely sounds suspicious. Not enough to work with yet though. Any other things you've gotten about it?"

"Just looking… Found a posting about New Hastings. Dated only three hours ago. Some people spotted a massive dome surrounding the town. Think you can find the picture attached?"

"Already on it." There was silence from her, while Dana used the time to study the picture. A large blue energy dome surrounded it, just like the poster said. Hexagonal shapes formed up most of it, and there was a slight hole at the very top. A helicopter hovered above the opening. "Found it. Getting a bad feeling though."

"That's what I was afraid of. According to an unofficial PRT database, that helicopter is built to drop payloads on a target. Whatever's going on in there, the PRT aren't looking for survivors."

"Yeah, you're right. Let me think, let me think. See the bottom of the dome, about two hexagons up and seven from the right? Zoom in." Dana did so, the picture becoming blurrier. Despite what CSI made people believe, there was a limit to how zoomed in you could get before a picture became too blurry to see anything. The shapes were hard to make out, but she could still tell that they were apparently attacking the dome. And they were only somewhat human. "Those Hexagons are at least fifteen feet in height and width. See how there are smaller shapes near the larger ones? We might be looking at about one giant for every twenty-five people."

Dana nodded. "Spotted something else too. Two people near the middle of the wall. Any guesses on who they are?"

"Depends. Do _you_ have any?"

"The guy is _obviously_ Eidolon. I recognise that cape anywhere."

"My thoughts exactly. It's the woman that's the problem. I'm getting nothing. Nadda. She could be his cleaning lady for all I can tell."

Dana narrowed her eyes. Something was going on in New Hastings. Something important or dangerous enough to need Eidolon involved, maybe the whole Triumvirate. Something that required them to drop bombs from above instead of just smashing the monsters with their powers. "Tattle, Alex told me that your power found out what he is. So I need the truth from you. What kind of bioweapon are we looking at here?"

"We're… Give me a moment." Silence again. "It's…" She sighed. "My power tells me that it's a match to Alex."

"Shit. Shit, fucking shit." Dana cursed. "Goddamn fucking PRT. Trust _them_ to fuck this shit up. What the fucking hell were they thinking?" She sighed, rubbing her eyes with her hand. "This is a clusterfuck of problems."

"You're telling me. I don't even have the full picture and I can still tell that this is bad. Is the entire town gone?"

"Close enough. Anyone still alive in there is still infected. The Virus' just fooled their bodies into thinking they're clean and healthy. And it acts like a goddamn zombie apocalypse." She sighed again. "I need to let Alex know. He can get in there, clean their shit up, and then fucking teach them a lesson." She moved to get up, when the room turned bright red. An alarm.

"Dana." Argus said urgently. "Scouts picked up Alexandria heading our way. You need to…" Whatever else he was going to say was lost as the North wall exploded inwards. Dana was knocked down by the fragments, their impact softened as they lost consistency. Even so, she still had about seventy kilos pressing down on her. She pulled herself far enough out of the goop to turn and look over her shoulder.

Alexandria was standing in the room, ripping Noctua out of its hole. Tendrils wrapped around her, trying to hurt her. But she pressed at some device at her hip, and a wave of force blasted outwards, blasting the tendrils away. She then activated some kind of wrist-mounted flamethrower, forcing them further away. She pulled Noctua free, leaving tendrils writhing from the wall, before moving at speed and grabbing Dana by the arm. She screamed as she felt it break, the sheer momentum Alexandria had too much for her human body to handle safely. She blacked out momentarily from the pain, and when she came to, they were already flying away from Mount Olympus. Already out of its immediate area. The scouts nearby started chasing them, easily catching up with the two of them. But a Ward surrounded by floating lenses popped up on a nearby rooftop, blasting with dozens of beams. The scouts dodged most of them, but that just gave time for Alexandria to fire on them with her flamethrower. The distraction in turn allowed the Ward to hit them with his beams, burning them to a crisp. Dana blearily looked back at Mount Olympus. Alex would be coming for her. He would be probably rushing ahead of the others, hands ready to kill and maim. Alexandria and the Protectorate had no idea what they were…

Mount Olympus started shrinking down, just as a plane flew overhead. Bombs dropped down on top of it, exploding with enough force and heat for her to feel from her location. More and more bombs dropped, each making it less likely anything would've survived. When the flare faded, there was a crater covered by what looked like glass. That was all that was left of Mount Olympus.

And everyone in it.

* * *

Legend stormed through the PRT offices, pushing past officers and capes alike. Most backed away in surprise. Legend had always been one of the ideal heroes; someone who fought for truth and justice while still acting like a swell guy. Seeing him in a rage about _anything_ was surprising. And yet here he was, looking ready for murder. They let him pass by, glad that _they_ weren't the ones he was after.

When he finally reached the room he was looking for, he slammed it open loudly, causing the two people in the room to look up in surprise. He glowered at Piggot and Alexandria, slamming the door shut behind him. "What the hell were you both _thinking_?" He said angrily.

Alexandria looked back at the map of Brockton Bay. "Bakuda's former armaments are the most dangerous and lethal weapons in our armoury. It's only natural that we would use them against Blacklight. We would've dropped them without alerting them if Athena wasn't so important."

"That's _not_ what I'm talking about." He slammed his hands against the table top to emphasise his words and emotions. "You just blew up hundreds of people along with him! Innocent people who just wanted a safe place to live! What goddamn reason led you to doing some so callous?!"

"Legend, you know what Blacklight is. What he's capable of. Those people stopped being innocent the moment they entered his territory. I simply utilised a similar response to what happens during a Simurgh attack."

"Alexandria filled me in. About how Blacklight is actually a bioweapon from another Earth." Piggot said. " _And_ how his cells can fool medical equipment into thinking the infected victim is clean. All of those people were walking time bombs. We could've had an endemic on our hands."

" _Could've_ been. They _could've_ been time bombs."

"Weren't you listening? They _were_ time bombs. Even if they came up clean on all scanners, they could've still been infected. We can't take that kind of risk." She looked back down at the map, tapping at one of the territories. "Our next hit should be on the Undersiders, followed by the Travellers. They were Blacklight's closest allies; maybe he had them store something for him."

Piggot nodded. "I'll send in Prometheus; they should be able to handle a few kids. The Wards could also back them up. Some of them are notorious at running."

"Then we'll organise a similar group to go after the Chosen. With our numbers, we should be able to wear them down until we've captured all their parahumans. Without them, the Chosen will be far easier targets. I'd say that we could have full control of Brockton Bay in under a week." She looked up, saw that Legend was still fuming. "You can go now, legend. You've made yourself heard."

"And what the hell are we going to tell everyone? Most of those people had family and friends outside Blacklight's territory. How are we going to tell them that we blew their loved ones up for a damn theory?"

"Just tell them part of the truth. That Blacklight had infected them with a virus, with the intent on detonating it in the event he was beaten. That for the safety of Brockton Bay and the world, we had to destroy them. Offer some condolences, and give them a promise that we _will_ take back this city. That should tie them over and give them some closure." She barely looked up from the map, an obvious sign that she considered the matter closed. Legend breathed heavily through his nose, before storming out of the room. The sound of the door slamming echoed down the hallway.

Damn Alexandria. Damn her _and_ Piggot. He had agreed to starting the Triumvirate under the hopes that they wouldn't have to commit this morally grey bullshit. Protect people and save lives, not blowing up innocents because it was easier than luring a villain out. Yes, they'd have to put such reservations aside during an S-class threat, but Mercer wasn't at the level yet. He seemed perfectly fine being left alone. But now… He shook his head. Alexandria made this far bigger than it had to be. And he was worried that this would all come crashing down on their heads. Get people killed.

"Uh, Sir? Legend, Sir?" He turned, and saw a PRT Officer standing behind him, a piece of paper in his hands. "We uh… we got a message from Central for the Triumvirate. But Alexandria and Eidolon are busy, so…"

"So that just left me." He gave the man a tired smile. "I understand. Let's hear it then."

"It's… it's not good, Sir. It came from the team stationed at Ellisburg." Legend felt his stomach drop. Of course. Of all the damn times Nilbog _had_ to act up, it just had to be today.

"Dammit." He cursed. "How bad is the breakout? How far has he gotten?"

"That's the thing, Sir. It's not a break out. According to them, Blacklight broke _in_."

"But… That's… That's impossible." He replied haltingly. "We… Blacklight was killed barely fifteen minutes ago. We had confirmation that he was in his territory when we attacked."

"I know Sir. But the Ellisburg team said that forty minutes ago, he arrived at Ellisburg and started attacking Nilbog and his monsters. Spawned his own creations from their corpses. Then he killed Nilbog, somehow ate all the monsters in town, and then created some kind of flying monster. It's… They think it's heading…"

"This way." He realised. A cold feeling came over him. Despite seeing Blacklight at his base, he was somehow also in Ellisburg at the same time. He would come all the way back, and find a smouldering crater where his territory was.

And it would be easy to realise who was responsible for the attack.

"Sound the alarm. Mobilise _everyone_ and prepare for a battle. As soon as he gets back here, he's going to be heading straight for us." The officer nodded, while Legend started running back to Alexandria. He slammed open the door again, Alex looking up furiously. "Blacklight wasn't at his base. He's still alive."

"Impossible." She replied instantly. "We saw him in there. We know he was at ground zero when the bombs fell."

"Yeah, well he was also attacking Nilbog at the same time. One of them has to be the real one, and my gut says that it's the one that's still alive. We need to prepare for the worst case scenario."

"My god." Piggot breathed. "He's going to have Crawler's enhancements and strengths _and_ Nilbog's monsters _on top_ of what he was originally capable of. If he manages to get close to our people…"

"Where's Eidolon?" Legend asked. "Maybe he could help fight back."

"Currently busy in New Hastings. He cannot be reached or interrupted at this time." Alexandria replied. She was already leaving the room, entering the storm that was the PRT offices. People and capes were running around, equipping gear and masks, calling out to each other, and nearly having collisions. The sheer number of extra capes made things far more difficult than normal.

Legend left them to it and flew out the window. He wanted visual confirmation on when Blacklight arrived. But he barely got above the city skyline before he spotted him and his… creation.

It was absolutely massive, large enough that it just _shouldn't_ be able to support its own weight, let alone fly. It was shaped like an arrow, a tapered head attached to a short stubby neck. Eight massive wings splayed out the sides, flapping occasionally to manoeuvre it. A series of ducts went down its body, and a long tail swung lazily through the air. Patches of its skin glowed white, nearly blindingly bright.

Legend tapped into his comms. "Blacklight has arrived, and he's got a massive beast. Treat him and it like you'd treat an Endbringer. Target is currently thirty five miles above us. I am moving in to attack. All flyers, rendezvous at my position." He flew higher up, beams lancing out to fire. They struck the beast, tearing into its skin and burning whatever it could.

The beast shuddered, before several things dropped down from its mass, falling rapidly. He didn't know what they were, but given what Blacklight and Nilbog could cook up, it probably won't be friendly. He swooped downwards, firing more beams that chased the masses. They struck them, sending them veering off course, patches of them burning away. But they corrected their course by blasting something from their sides. He was now low enough to see the PRT officers lining up outside, large guns on hand.

Then the masses hit the ground, and he could _feel_ the shockwave from up above. He could even see the shockwave radiating outwards from their point of impact.

The officers were immediately thrown away, slamming through walls and skidding along the ground as the nearby vehicles exploded as they were thrown through the air. Cracks formed all over the PRT Headquarters, and some of the walls actually collapsed. A couple of capes who had already moved outside – Arbiter and Fume – were pretty much turned into paste from the sheer force. Dust billowed outwards from the point of impact.

The rest of the PRT Officers ran outside, guns covering the monsters. They, in turn, started shifting. Unfolding arms and legs, teeth gnashing away and drool dripping from their mouths. Cauldron already had records of what these beasts were. Hunters. The second biggest force the Infected had. Tank crushing monsters that could withstand incredible firepower. You needed two rockets just to kill one of them. The center mass though, took on a more humanoid figure. Black spines jutted out all over its body.

Blacklight grew massive claws, tips dripping with acid. **"Where. Is. My. Sister?!"** He snarled. His voice was so distorted it didn't even sound human.

But then again, Blacklight _wasn't_ human. He was a monster. And they had awakened the beast.

"Open fire!" Someone shouted. And then the battle began. Hunters and Capes collided in battle, beams and blasts filling the air as the Protectorate fought for survival. Legend left them to it, focusing on the flying beast. It was dropping more and more masses, none moving as fast as the ones before. He started tearing into them, his beams changing direction to slice through them. But the monster wasn't going to just sit and watch. Things grew from its underbelly, firing acid and razor sharp blades at him. He flew away and dodged them, blasting again and again as he kept one step ahead of their attacks. He flew above the beast, his breaker state the only thing stopping him from suffocating from the height. As he arced overhead, more weapons and beasts started growing. Hunters snarled at him from the monster's back, completely covered in spines. They rooted themselves to the skin and fired spines at him continuously, like a Gatling gun. He had to swerve away from them, feeling the lack of oxygen affecting him.

He dearly hoped that everyone down below was holding out.

* * *

Piggot watched in horror as everything she had worked for crumbled before her.

Officers were getting slaughtered left and right, their training not truly preparing them for facing opponents who care so little about their own survival. Several of their number had started coughing up blood, their bodies mutating into horrific things. Forced to fight on two fronts, and with every death making more creatures, they were being worn away. Flashbacks of her teams fight in Ellisburg threatened to overwhelm her.

The capes were only doing somewhat better. Their powers were allowing them to overwhelm the monsters before they could get close. But even then, they simply refused to stay down and dead. Albatross had crushed two by pulling away the air pressure and then slamming it back on them explosively, only for one to get back up and swat him out of the sky as he tried to move to another area. Prefab, a cape with a powerful tinker cannon, found his cannon being shattered under a heavy blow from some bloated monster with large fists. The blow crushed him too, trapping him in the ground. It moved in to finish him off, only to be blocked by Knight Crimson. He had a large broadsword strapped to his back, and then he grappled with the beast and made them both disappear. When he returned, he was alone, his blade crimson. He then grabbed Prefab and carried him away. Battery and Assault were currently up against Blacklight himself, using their powers to constantly stay on the move. This kept going until Blacklight got his hands on Battery, breaking one arm in his grip. Assault knocked them all flying, Battery sailing out of his grasp. Blacklight responded by shoving his claws through his chest, ripping him in two and consuming him. Though she couldn't hear it, she could see Battery crying out in anguish. A minor Ward, Crucible, stepped in and caught Blacklight in a bubble shield. The villain started pounding his way free before Crucible managed to fill the inside of his bubble with fire. He kept at it until there was nothing left.

Behind him, one of the monsters suddenly stopped. Its body started shifting, growing smaller and skinnier. Within seconds, Blacklight was standing amongst them again. He smashed Crucible, but was stopped from unleashing a killer blow by Miss Militia and her guns.

 _He's truly immortal._ She realised. _Everytime we kill him, as long as there is a piece of him left, he can keep coming back. We could kill him hundreds of times, but we can't get rid of him unless we destroy every last scrap._ This was as bad as the Endbringers. How do you truly kill an enemy who can keep coming back and was already strong enough to kill people with his bare hands? Even Alexandria, who was currently pounding Blacklight into his own forces, couldn't stop him forever. He would always return.

They needed to find every last piece, and burn it and everything surrounding it to the ground.

She stumbled as the room started shaking. Bits and pieces started jittering, jumping off the shelves to hit the ground. The shaking was getting even worse. Did Blacklight have earthquake powers? Or was Tecton and Gully simply putting their all into this fight?

Then at the far side of the complex, the ground exploded upwards and outwards. Those who had been in that area – Gallant, Grace, Gully, and Ursa Aurora – were sent flying into the air. Ursa hit several bits of rubble before being pulled from the air by Aegis. The others weren't so lucky. Blood exploded outwards as they were crushed by something big. A long neck extended from the ground, curving and swaying as it moved ever upwards. The head split open into three lips, teeth lining the inside. A set of seven heads rose out from its maw, shrieking and screaming. The all loomed over them before spewing a dark red goo. It smothered the ground, spreading outwards and pulling at the feet of the officers caught in the gunk. Prism was caught, but she created a tower of her three copies and flung the topmost one to safety. Gasconade wasn't so lucky; even his power to revert anything he imbues with energy to its previous state didn't slow or abate his death.

And from the gunk rose up more monsters. And the Pantheon. A part of the giant beast – the Proto-Endbringer – opened up, revealing a man glowing with heat. As he got closer, he seemed to be growing in size. Scales started forming over his skin.

And then they were upon them.

Before, the fight had been merely challenging. Yes, officers were dying. Yes, capes were fighting for their very lives. But they had been fighting back. They had been holding out.

Now that they were being attacked on two fronts, it was a massacre.

The Hunters were just too damn fast, too strong. They would charge in and start crushing people, forcing them to focus their firepower before they simply bounded away to another group. They killed scores of the monsters with every pass, but there just seemed to be more to replace them. Piggot watched as a woman appeared out of thin air, her face simply a smooth blank orb. She walked through the fighting and the chaos, attacks and blows bouncing off her or being shredded. On contact. Siberian's power, no doubt. Blacklight was probably using it to find Athena.

A spiteful part of her wanted to have her killed as a way to have revenge.

The room shuddered strongly again as the Proto-Endbringer jumped into the air, tunnelling down somewhere else. Anomaly had been distracting monsters with his black orbs when it landed near him, blowing him away from the shockwave. It tunnelled under before causing parts of the ground to collapse, forcing them to run for cover. Tecton helped created bridges and ramps to safety, before the beast rose up again. Its mouths opened wide again, and it started bombarding them with glowing red orbs. Piggot watched as Rime surrounded herself and a squad in ice, before firing icebergs at the monster.

Then Alexandria threw Blacklight into his own creature and then slammed it into the ground. She was tearing holes through it, her fists creating shockwaves as she fought to keep it down. With it distracted, others joined in on the assault. Miss Militia was working with officers to fire more of the bombs down on it, blasting away more and more of its flesh. But when Alexandria rose up to slam into it again, it opened a hole in its chest and then slithered away. Several of the beasts moved towards it, offering themselves to heal its wounds. As it moved away, mouths appeared over its body, spewing out more red gunk. Anyone caught in it was consumed by the liquid, a beast taking their place. It didn't matter if you were completely engulfed, partially engulfed, or it only got a dob on you. You would die, and become one of the Infected.

Such was the power and speed of the Virus.

Blacklight appeared again, jumping towards Alexandria. As she is near invincible, he would rate her his biggest threat. She flew towards him and smashed him into the ground. Or would have, if he hadn't somehow turned into a liquid state. He wrapped himself around her, covering her entire body. Meanwhile, his Proto-Endbringer rose back up. Its body was shuddering, as though it was tearing itself apart.

And then it unleashed an unholy scream.

The sheer power behind it was overwhelming, even greater than the force Blacklight unleashed when he dropped down on them. The very air was distorted by the pressure, and Piggot felt like her head was going to explode. The building completely tilted, blowing away in bits and pieces. She opened her tear-filled eyes, saw capes and officers alike being hit by the blast as time seemed to slow. Many of them had limbs severed, cut off as they impacted broken rubble. Others were killed on the spot, their corpses rag dolling away before being devoured.

Then the glass window shattered, and she was bombarded by hundreds of blades.

* * *

 **(Earlier)**

Alex felt his body leave the range of his Hive Mind, and was 'rebooted' back in the rest of his biomass. He will have to increase the range somehow. Maybe by making the mind larger, or setting up relays around the world, his Hive Mind could stay connected anywhere.

Still, there little to do right now. Either he will return a victor, or he won't come back at all. Previous battles suggested that his victory is assured.

In the meantime, he had to think about what else he could do while waiting.

Well, he _could_ study the powers a bit better. Yes, he could manifest three powers in a single body without suffering any deterioration. But he wanted to use more. He wanted to use ten powers, or twenty, or even a hundred if he ever got that many. He'd pretty much be a god.

Laws of story-telling usually have it that anything capable of granting powers to others also has access to all of them too. If he ever had to fight something like that, then he needed all the advantages he could have.

He created a small sealed room a good distance away from his lair, buried under the water. Held up the walls and roof with more biomass, stronger than steel. He was about to create a body to test the powers through when he saw something through his scouts.

Alexandria. Flying at full speed towards Mount Olympus.

He groaned. Why couldn't the heroes just leave him the fuck alone? All he wanted was to take control of the entire city and have everyone leave him alone so that Dana could live in a safe environment. It wasn't like he was doing some Saturday morning cliché of dropping the moon on everyone's head or something. And instead of just letting him get on with his takeover, they just kept throwing things at him. Now he's got to find a way to kill her too.

Hold on. Alexandria lost an eye to Siberian. Her projection obviously trumped her own invincibility. All he had to do was send Merida off against her, and he'd have another power to add to his collection. Now where was the little…?

A breach. A breach in the Right Wing. Dana's quarters.

No. No she fucking _didn't_.

He materialised almost immediately in her room, ready to stall Alexandria and get her the fuck away. But she burned him with some flamethrower, halting his creation of a body. Argus was trying to stop her, but she was simply too tough. Her flamethrower kept him and his creations at bay, just long enough for her to grab Dana by the arm.

And then they were both gone. But not before he heard the snap of bone.

"DANA!" He yelled loudly, forced to watch as they got further away. He instantly sent as many scouts after them as possible. He had to do _something_ to free…

The aerial scouts picked up something. The sound of a plane. Matches a bomber-class jet. Heading straight towards them.

"Argus, get everyone below." He said, moving to chase after them. The scouts didn't have enough biomass to be of use as another body. He'd need to have them all as one to match his current need. Better to have them distract her and allow him to catch up. As he ran off after Alexandria, he felt everything in Mount Olympus start scurrying downwards. Sirens wailed and Themis started up emergency procedures. Realising that the open areas were too vulnerable, Alex had modified Mount Olympus to have tunnels under the houses. An easier, safer way to go.

Except that they didn't have time for that. The bombs were likely falling even now. So everyone just got bundled up into the nearest building, and the houses were sent falling downwards. Moving fast enough to mimic freefall. As per instructions, the surface layer separated from the rest, building up biomass to help sustain it.

Just in time too. When the first bombs struck, he felt the surface layer dying. He could feel it turning into glass, before shattering as more bombs dropped. Pain wracked his biomass as the bombs tried to destroy him and everything he ever made.

And then a bomb landed near him, and he felt _himself_ vanish.

* * *

He opened his eyes back at Mount Olympus. Searched for the shelters. Found people congregating in there. Most of them seemed angry. A few were confused. All had a hint of fear. And why wouldn't they? They were nearly killed. By the supposed 'good guys'.

Was he ever going to find a governmental force that _wasn't_ actually corrupt and evil?

He found Themis easily enough, organising his police to help keep people calm and to disrupt any fights. He appeared behind him, causing the man to jump. "What's the current situation with the civilians?" He asked.

"Well, they're all worried. That's pretty expected when you shove them into houses and then drop the houses into pits." Themis replied nervously. "The bounce-house floor stuff was a good idea; no one suffered any broken bones. There _are_ a few bruises from where people accidently hit things though. And people are feeling angry about all…" He looked over Alex's shoulder. He saw and felt a large crowd walking towards him.

"Hey. Blacklight. What the hell is going on?" The civilian in the lead shouted. "You could've killed us with that stunt. Is this some fucking game to you or something?"

"The PRT and therefore the Government attempted to blow up Mount Olympus and everyone currently living in it." He explained. "There was no warning, no chance to get to safety, nothing that suggested they expected us to have any forewarning. They must've decided that killing you lot was worth it if it meant getting me and my Pantheon." The crowd looked at each other in shock and alarm. "And they've kidnapped Athena. This is the _last_ straw. By tomorrow, I am going to get them out of this city. One way, or another. Pantheon, to me. Merida, where the hell are you?"

"H…Here, Sir." She said meekly, pushing her way through the crowd. She was shaking like a leaf. "I… I was going to the bathroom. I'm sorry that Athena was captured."

"'Sorry' isn't going to cut it." He snarled, stepping towards her. "You're supposed to be guarding her twenty-four/seven. If you had been there, Alexandria would've been in chunks right now."

"But… But I don't know how to fight." She was crying now.

"Easy boss." Hephaestus said, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "We all make mistakes. What matters is that we're still alive to kick some ass. We go to the PRT, fight everything they've got, and bring her back home."

"No. I'm not going to settle for just running. What I said is true. This was their last chance. I am _not_ going to take this shit any longer. The heroes want to start a war? Then I'll crush them."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Ares asked him. "Even with our powers and strengths, we can't just walk up to the front door and smash everything. They'll overwhelm us through sheer numbers and firepower."

"Not if we bring enough of our own." He replied. "Argus."

"Yes, Blacklight?" The base mind answered.

"Gather up as much biomass as you can spare. Upload blueprint FATHER."

Time to show them just what the Virus can make when it's provoked.

* * *

'Do not Invoke the Gods, for Their wrath is great and terrible'.

A fitting phrase, given what is currently happening to the PRT, Protectorate, and Wards.

As soon as his Ellisburg self had returned, he had promptly taken control of the flying beast and sent it after them, acting as aerial assault. They had bombed him; he would reply in kind. His Hunters and Juggernauts were slowly but surely overwhelming them, helped by the Infected he had made in their ranks (originally to keep track if a large squad headed his way). It was when he decided that they were suitably distracted, and he had been killed again, that he decided to unleash the second way.

Cue Father. His version of Greene's Mother form. A massive Hydra, modified to be even more dangerous. Able to spawn more Infected. Can use every attack Mother used against _him_.

Given its capabilities, perhaps it would be just as easy to call it an Endbringer.

"Um, Blacklight?" Merida said hesitantly over the Hive Link. "I've found Dana. She's… _mostly_ alright. I've got hold of her right now, so my power is protecting her."

"Good. Now do your damn job and keep her safe." He replied tersely. With Dana protected from practically everything, it was safe to bring out his biggest gun.

Father used its Scream Devastator, and all the heroes fell before its might.

The world shook from the sheer power, and the PRT Headquarters turned into so many pebbles and sand. Blood flowed freely and body parts flew through the air. Capes and officers died left and right, his Infected moving in to feast. He could feel shards being added to his mind, his bodies barely affected by adding the trigger memories anymore.

Now, all that was left to deal with was goddamn _fucking_ Alexandria. The most persistent bitch in the world. And the most vexing too. At least with Siberian, all he had to do was find his real body and kill him. How would he work around Alexandria's invincibility?

Well if nothing else he might have better luck inside than out.

He recollected himself (his liquid state had been blown off her by the scream) and flowed back towards her. She was busy targeting Father again, but he had learned from her previous attack. Father created holes in her path, causing her to fly harmlessly through him instead of smashing into him. Alex jumped into her next path, letting his body take her blows. Then he covered her face, forcing her jaw open and force-feeding her his biomass. He heard her gag as he went, her fists punching through his body as she tried to rip him off. But whenever she tried to get a grip, he simply flowed through her fingers. So she slammed into the ground, as though she could splatter him across the ground.

It worked, to an extent. But he had managed to hold on long enough to get into her body.

And found that she was as annoyingly tough inside as she was outside. He couldn't hope to get a grip, to get some way to infect her.

But then he remembered her gagging. That had to mean that she needed to breath, right?

Could _that_ work? Was the answer simply to suffocate her to death?

Well, it wasn't like he had any other options. Aside from having Merida leave Dana and kill the bitch herself.

No; not going to happen. _Never_ going to happen.

And so he flowed back up her oesophagus, and took the path to her lungs. Her body tried to stop him, but as invincible as she was, even her body wasn't strong enough to keep him at bay. He flowed into her lungs, filling up as much as he could. He felt her body buck, felt it start panicking as she fought for breath. Her lungs contracted as her body tried to fill his occupied space with oxygen. And then a great pressure started forcing him downwards.

Interesting. He wouldn't have thought of going straight up as a solution to getting things out of your lungs. Maybe she's trying to get out of his range, stop him from commanding his biomass. Well, she was shit outta luck there. He gave his biomass an order. It will follow that order till the day it dies.

Guess that makes the _third_ invincible person he's beaten so far. Maybe now people might take a fucking hint and fuck off.

Merida and Dana were approaching him, Dana's right arm dangling. She winced everytime it swayed. He quickly rushed over and wrapped some biomass around it as a cast. She nodded in thanks. "Alex, I think now is a good time to stop this." She said.

"Stop? I'm not stopping until every last one of these fuckers is dead. The PRT needs to learn that you don't _fuck_ with me _or_ my people."

"I know. But you've already killed off a lot of them. You're beating them down on at least three fronts; maybe four. They're losing, and they've got to realise that by now. If you kill them all, then there'll be no one left to tell people what a shitty idea attacking you is."

Alex sent out a single command. To the likely relief of the heroes, it was a command to stop. All his Hunters stopped in their tracks, and backed away from the heroes. Father stopped spraying biomass, and the biomass stopped eating people. Even his flyer (which Dana will probably call something like Pegasus) stopped attacking Legend and Myrddin and the other capes flying up and attacking it. It took a louder command to get his Pantheon to stop. The whole area went completely silent, after spending so long with shouting and roaring and screaming and violence.

"This is your _only_ warning." He said, his voice magnified. "Brockton Bay is no longer welcome to heroes. I'm in charge around here now, and I will never again tolerate your attacks on me or my people. You can either leave, stop using your powers, or die. I don't give a fuck which. But by tomorrow, Brockton Bay _will_ be free of anyone who's part of the PRT, Wards, or Protectorate. If I catch anyone disobeying this simple rule, I _will_ have them killed. There will be no mercy, no second chances, no negotiation. We see you, we kill you. Tell the world that Brockton Bay belongs to Zeus and his Pantheon."

Dana stepped forward. "You can collect your dead and injured, give them treatment. And you can also move your families out. I'm sure your bosses have some way of covering your moving costs. Anyone who wants to leave can do so. We won't force them to stay. But since Zeus isn't afraid to kill criminals, Brockton Bay could probably end up one of the safest cities on the planet."

"Like I said; you've got till tomorrow to decide. If you're going to stay in hospital, then I'd better not hear of any fucking powers from any of you." As if to emphasise his threat, Alexandria fell from the sky and landed near them. Everyone jumped from the impact, dust billowing outwards. Alex strolled over to her, grabbing her by her suit and checking her for life signs.

Brain dead. Caused by asphyxiation. Her power was still active, but she wasn't doing much more than breathing.

Good enough.

He carried her over his shoulder, his Infected following him back towards Father. Once they were all inside or a part of him, he carried them back towards Mount Olympus, closing up the tunnel behind them.

Leaving the heroes to lick their wounds, count their dead, and make their choices.

* * *

"It'll be ok." Legend said softly to Kid Win, holding his hand as they injected him. "You'll be fine. You'll pull through, and things will get better. I promise you." Kid Win nodded, but there was still fear and loss in his eyes.

They both knew that Legend was lying. But neither of them wanted to admit it. Legend slipped free as they wheeled Kid Win to the wards, his comforting smile sliding off as he turned around. He sighed, a long pain-filled sigh. This went horribly, horribly wrong. Easily as bad as when Behemoth first unveiled himself, bringing the threat of the Endbringers. And now everyone will be talking about even with all their resources and powers, the good guys still managed to lose a city.

And all because Alexandria couldn't leave Blacklight… _Zeus_ alone.

He rounded the corner into the lobby, and found Eidolon waiting in there. He looked slightly out of place in his suit, sitting there in a seat and twiddling his thumbs. But then, they _all_ looked out of place. Like people playing dress-up.

"I thought you were busy with a mission." Legend said with a frown, walking over to him. Eidolon looked up from his hands, stood upright.

"I _was_. Another Blacklight-related fuck-up." He said softly. "The second lab suffered a catastrophic failure. The Virus got out into the town. It's only thanks to Contessa realising that would happen that we managed to contain it. Then we levelled the entire town before burning what was left with a thermonuclear bomb." He looked around the room, saw the number of capes staring numbly into space. "How many did we lose?"

Legend sighed again. "Too many. Albatross, Campanile, Dogwood, Pinpoint, Rail, Adamant, Assault, Revel, Arbiter, Prism…" His voice choked a bit. He still remember how nice and sunny she had been. He liked having her as his second. She just liked making the world a better place. He took a halting breath, and continued. "…Fume, Gasconade, Cache, Dauntless, Velocity, Hunch, Clockblocker, Gallant, Grace, Browbeat, and Gully. All in all, nearly a third of everyone who took part. Not including the PRT. I don't even know if there's anyone left of them."

"Fuck." Eidolon cursed, pacing around. "This is _exactly_ what we were worried about. And what about Alexandria? Where's she? If she's not feeling the _slightest_ bit of remorse for this…"

"I think she's dead too. Or at least close to it. Zeus dragged her away with him. And we've been given an ultimatum. To leave the city, and never come back."

Eidolon moved to say something, but stopped himself. Instead, he lead Legend to the roof. From there, they had an excellent view of Mount Olympus forming again. Rising up higher and stronger than before. "I hated it when Cauldron ordered us not to go after Nilbog. I wanted to do nothing more than charge in and take him down. Even from a selfish point, imagine how famous you'd get taking him down. Instead, we gave him a town and left him alone because he's a 'valuable asset'. And now we've got something even worse, and we _have_ to leave him alone. Give up a whole city to him."

"From what we've heard, he keeps the peace pretty well in his territory. Everyone gets to live their lives, just under his protection. There are worse people to have in charge than him."

"I know. I know. Doesn't make it any easier though. I've seen what the Virus can do. I'd sleep easier knowing that we wiped out every last trace of it."

"You and me both." He saw movement to their left, turned to see Fireteam Prometheus approaching. Their helmets were off, showing their shell-shocked expressions.

Eidolon noticed them too. "And where were they during all this? Was Zeus controlling them somehow?"

"No. Alexandria and Piggot had them go after the Undersiders. I guess there's no point to it now."

"I see." He sighed again. They were interrupted by knocking, turning to see Triumph approaching. The once tough hero looked broken now, weighed down by defeat.

"Legend, Eidolon." He said respectfully. "I've got good news and bad news. But I think you've probably heard enough bad news for one day."

"We have." Eidolon replied. "But putting off till another day isn't going to make things easier. Let's hear it then. What's the bad news?"

"Some of the injured… didn't make it. Clay didn't survive. Or Prefab. Neither did Ursa Aurora or Narwhal. But Miss Militia's pulling through. So are Lockdown, Sere, and Tecton."

"Thank you Triumph. I'll make sure that their families hear. You can go now. Mourn your friends."

"Thank you, Sir." Triumph replied. And he went back down the stairs.

"And now more dead. If an Endbringer hits now, we're all doomed."

"So what now?" Eidolon asked.

"Now… We just gotta find a way to convince Zeus to work _with_ us instead of _against_ us. Or at least be willing to fight the Endbringers."

"Without him, we will _all_ die."

* * *

 **For those of you who wanted Piggot and the PRT to suffer for messing with Alex, your prayers have been finally answered. And what a way to go.**

 **The fights** _ **did**_ **feel a little on the short side to me, but I can't really think about how to expand it without turning this into a big long drag as Alex/Piggot/whoever goes over every last hero and what happens to them. And once again, sorry if this seems too much of a curb-stomp and anticlimactic. That's just how Alex rolls.**

 **Besides, when you've got two Proto-Endbringers with healing powers** _ **on top**_ **of an army, you've got your hands full anyway.**

 **Now, the capes that took part are all the ones I could find on TV Tropes and the Wiki. I used everyone I could, barring those without a description. Obviously there are more, since plenty more died fighting Leviathan in canon, but we never get a clear idea on what they could do, or who's side they're on. Wildbow probably made a lot of them simply to kill them off and show us just how dangerous an Endbringer is. Also, I read that during the battle, Wildbow decided on whether or not someone lived by rolling a dice. Get a low number, and you die or get injured; a high number means survival. It put a bit of randomness into the fight, and actually meant that Taylor was on the line too. In fact, if she died, then apparently Weld was meant to be the next protagonist. Wonder how they story would've gone if** _ **that**_ **happened.**

 **So that's what I did here. I listed all of their names, rolled a dice, and then sealed their fates when I was done. And those with 'life-threatening injuries'? I rolled to see if they survived surgery or not. Those who survived? It's because they got lucky. So if someone you liked died, or someone who's powers should've let them live died, blame chance. And possibly my terrible rolls.**

 **Now that I've got this fight over and done with, I've realised that I've kinda got a problem. See, now that Jack Slash is dead, the end of the world is going to take between seven and fifteen years to happen (just guessing). And now that Alex had scared off the heroes, that just leaves the villains (who are going to fall in line, leave, or die). And after** _ **that**_ **, we've got up to fifteen years to fill with events and fights to keep Alex busy. Because we all know that he can't just sit on a throne forever. He's not the Lich King or Orcus after all. (look up Orcus, and you'll get what I'm talking about.) And so despite what I said near the beginning, I think I'll put this on a slower update and focus on some of my other stories.**

 **But don't think that you still can't contribute. I've got questions for you guys. And a challenge. The challenge is simple; help me come up with events to happen during the years it takes for (Spoiler Spoiler SPOILER) Scion to go evil. Could be anything. Could be a rival gang trying to move in. it could be someone starting up Slaughterhouse Nine again. It could be an Endbringer attack. Anything that I like, I'll credit the person who suggested it. Send me a PM if you want to talk about it in length.**

 **As for the questions, there's at least one I meant to ask last chapter yet totally forgot. Noelle's powers allow her to create evil copies of people, with their powers acting slightly differently. Now, do you guys think she could make an Evil Alex? Would her powers even work on him, or would it do nothing while he consumes her (hypothetically)?**

 **Coil's got to realise that Alex is now near impossible to kill off. So should he be the smarter man and just do as Alex says? Or should he be an idiot and try to kill him? And if so, how should he try and fail?**

 **(Not a question here) ages ago, I asked about how big the population of Brockton Bay was. This was meant to be a part of the battle here, where Alex turned ten percent of the city into Infected to swarm the heroes with. I decided not to bother, since it was pretty much in his favour to begin with.**


	15. Afterman - Parahumans Online

**Hey there everyone. First off, I want to say that thanks to Rikeproseet for informing me that Shards of Impossibility is now on the TV Tropes Worm Fanfic Recs page. A moment to express my feelings about this.**

 **(Cue happy squealing that can be heard around the world, backed up by angelic choir and fireworks that blow up the moon.)**

 **OH MY GOD! That is unbelievable! I actually have a story on a Fanfic Recs page. I already thanked Unclouded for recommending my story, but I just want to thank him again. This is amazing!**

 **Eh hem.**

 **Alright then, now that we've gotten that out of the way, I have been reading all the reviews people sent in in answer to my questions. I want to thank everyone for their ideas and contributions. And so based on popular demand, I am going to do a series of short interludes pretty much about what is happening now that Alex has taken control over Brockton Bay. As such, there is probably/definitely going to be mention of things that haven't exactly happened yet. They** _ **will**_ **happen in other interludes and stuff, but for now I wanted to try and create the sense of a living world reacting to events that happened quickly.**

 **And so we're starting off with the Parahumans Online Interlude. A site all about the happenings of capes and parahuman events. I'm not sure if I needed to update the previous chapter and ask permission on whether or not I could use altered versions of your usernames, but I wasn't sure if many of you would be rereading chapter 14. If you really have a problem with it, just let me know and I'll change it to something else.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Aftermath – Parahumans Online**

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* * *

 **Topic: Brockton Bay is Lost**

 **In: Boards News Events America**

 **SndPeople** (Original Poster) (Geek and Proud)

Posted on May 26th, 2011:

Ok, most people outside of Brockton Bay probably don't have a clue what I'm talking about. But around 11 to 12, posters from Brockton Bay started putting up pictures and messages about spotting Protectorates and Wards in the city. Pretty much everyone who's anyone. Everyone thought that they mobilising to take back most of the city from the villains taking control. An hour later, around 12:45, Mount Olympus (Blacklight's base) pretty much exploded.

2 hours later, the PRT Offices are under attack by Blacklight and his monsters.

Now, I don't have all the details (anyone who does, _please_ contribute), but barely ten minutes later everyone nearby hears him shouting that Brockton Bay isn't welcome to heroes. And anyone part of them has to leave the city. Then the hospitals are filled with wounded heroes.

It's pretty safe to say that the Protectorate lost. So now the city belongs to the villains.

Am I missing something here? Just what the hell is going on? How could the combined force of every hero in the US lose to one guy? Help me out here, please.

 **(Showing page 36 of 146)**

 **10010**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Dude, holy shit. What the fuck? I thought he was some minor villain or something.

 **SinfulAvenger** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

That 'minor villain' started his career by kicking Glory Girl's ass. Twice. Like, she couldn't even limp or fly home. Paramedics had to lift her into an ambulance and get her to her sister. I was in the crowd when it happened.

 **LoyaltoMyself**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

The heroes deserved to get beaten. Kept treating Blacklight like a B-Class villain instead of an S-Class. Doubt they even know what he's fully capable of, or they would've left him alone instead of pissing him off. Fucking retards.

 **TemporalOrder9**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

In what way is dropping a bomb on his base treating him like a B-Class villain?

 **LoyaltoMyself**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

You drop bombs on B-Class to take them out without actually fighting. You don't drop bombs on S-Class because you know they do jack-shit. If they could work on S-Class, then why haven't we just nuked the Endbringers?

Besides, it didn't even work.

 **GrimMan89** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Have to agree with Loyal. Pissing off Blacklight was dumb. He never bothered anyone that didn't pick a fight with him.

 **washington time** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Dude, that bombing gave me a heart attack. Was just online and then I was falling. Everything went dark, and then it was all shaking really badly. Creepiest part was seeing the sky turning red.

PRT was gonna kill us all just to kill Zeus and his Pantheon. Assholes can rot for all I care.

 **BoneBot2** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Ditto. City was going down. Gangs and villains were taking over and hurting whoever they wanted. Merchants were the worst. Then Zeus showed up and killed every murdering bastard. Made us a new home where we were safe. Only time we ever had to run was when Siberian showed up. The PRT left us to die.

 **Diam0ndPlayer56**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Amen to that. I don't want heroes who are going to blow me up for living in the safety of a villain. Real fucked up.

 **DeadmanFunland**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

You're all a bunch of hypocrites. You're perfectly fine with the heroes blowing up people affected by Simurgh. Yet when your lives are on the line all you do is whine and moan.

We know _nothing_ about Blacklight other than the fact that he's really dangerous. He could be processing people and turning them into monsters, or selling off drugs and pimping teens. And you don't care because he's your 'saviour'.

The world would be better off without the lot of you.

 **End of Page.** **1** **,** **2** **,** **3** **,** **4** **,** **5** **… 36…** **146**

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* * *

 **Topic: Zeus Press Conference**

 **In: Boards News Videos Brockton Bay**

 **washington time** (Original Poster) (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Posted on May 26th, 2011:

Everyone out there who thinks that Zeus is a bad guy, you _have_ to look at his press conference (See it **here** ). He explains _everything_ there, talking about what he's got planned for the city, for the people, everything.

He's totally a cool guy. Moody as hell, but still cool.

 **(Showing page 1 of 1456)**

 **Athena**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

washington time

Glad to see I'm not the only one here who thinks that. He won't ever say it, but I'm glad you like him. Correct on the moody part though. Think he'd just glower if I didn't give him suggestions.

 **washington time** (Original Poster) (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

OH MY GOD ATHENA'S TALKING TO ME.

I AM NEVER TAKING THIS POST DOWN. EVER.

 **LandIsAboveSky**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

I just don't get the guy. I mean, you hear all these stories about how big a monster and a villain he is, but then you see him here and he's acting like he's not even interested in being a villain. What's up with that? Is it because he's 'only doing it for his family'? Is he seriously getting pressured by his sister?

What a bitch.

 **Athena**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

LandIsAboveSky

You know, I was a major hacker _before_ I got my hands on a brain in a box. Just saying.

 **washington time** (Original Poster) (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

LandIsAboveSky

Dude, you can't say things like that about Athena. She can tear your life apart with her brain. And Zeus could totally track you down and murder you. Show some fucking respect, dickhead.

 **LandIsAboveSky**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

washington time

Your hero worship is so strong that it hurts.

And I wasn't being disrespectful. I was just pointing out that she's manipulating him. We don't even know what Zeus would do if he wasn't being led around like a dog on a leash. He could've been a hero or something. He could've helped made the world a better place.

 **Athena**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

My brother is a self-admitted monster. Murder is always his first answer to a problem, and he can learn anything by eating your brain. If it weren't for me, the PRT would've been dead months ago. And he'd be Sylar-ing his way across the world right now.

I wouldn't call him a dog on a leash. More like Satan holding a morality pet. Or a WMD with me holding the trigger.

 **Diam0ndPlayer56**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

What's 'Sylar-ing'?

 **Athena**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Seriously? You guys don't have Heroes? A world about heroes doesn't have a show about heroes?

WTF God?

 **ultima-slayer**

Replied on May 26th, 2011.

Asked a friend on Earth Aleph. Knew all about it.

Sylar is a villain from a show called Heroes. His power is that he can understand and gain powers by studying them. And it works better if he studies their brains. He became a superhero serial killer, killing any powered people he found and cutting open their heads. Everyone kept thinking that they could manipulate him into being their lackey, and he always came out on top.

…Sounds _exactly_ like Zeus to me.

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* * *

 **Topic: New Endbringers WTF?**

 **In: Boards World Views Main**

 **The Distraught Drake** (Original Poster) (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Posted on May 25th, 2011.

Oh my god, oh my god. I was looking outside my window for a breather when I looked upwards and saw a giant monster flying above the PRT. Like, flying _way_ above. Had to be miles higher. Built like an arrowhead, with lots of wings flapping and bits of it glowing. Then it started dropping bits and pieces down, and they started tearing into the PRT. Felt the vibrations from where I was. Like an earthquake going off. Capes flew up to fight it, but it started fighting back with… lasers and things and shit. Then a second monster rose up from the ground, some giant worm thing. It spat out some liquid, and then it was burrowing and crashing around.

What the fuck were they? Were they Endbringers? Do we seriously have two new Endbringers? Did they seriously just both appear in Brockton Bay?

What is _with_ this city?

 **(Showing page 2250 out of 3960)**

 **vvvlaser97vvv**

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

WHAT THE FUCK?! :0

 **ThePleasantLie89** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Saw the whole thing. Got stuck near the edge of the fighting. Took video of the worm Endbringer ( **here** ).

Real nasty stuff. Dissolved the heroes like they were nothing.

 **BoneBot2** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Saw video. Endbringers have the same colouration and look as the rest of Zeus' creations. It's like a creator fingerprint, or maybe just a side effect of whatever he's making them from.

Conclusion: The two new Endbringers are his creations.

We're under the protection of an Endbringer maker.

Enemies, beware our power.

 **vvvlaser97vvv**

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

AGAIN: WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK?! :0

 **The Distraught Drake** (Original Poster) (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Shitting my pants now. I am literally one step away from shitting my pants dark brown. I'm in a city where the biggest baddest villain can make Endbringers!?

What the _fuck_ has been unleashed on the world?

 **ThePleasantLie89** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Gonna have to agree with others now. Heroes fucked up big time on this.

 **Diam0ndPlayer56**

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Amen.

Spoke to PrincelySaberFangs (Brockton Bay Refugee) about Zeus. He and I both agree that Zeus wouldn't have picked a fight if everyone just left him alone. He was fricking powerful enough _before_ we found out he was holding back. Now though, he could take on the world. And win.

 **PrincelySaberFangs** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

This question is for anyone living in Mount Olympus. I was walking around the outskirts of town when I saw some of Zeus' creatures scurrying away. Followed them for a bit, and found them surrounding a bunch of trees. They latched tentacles onto the trees and drank them up.

What was that all about?

 **The-Blacklight-Crab** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

Was a scientist working at Medhall before we found out we were working for Kaiser and everything went into liquidation. As far as I can tell, Zeus and his creations can convert organic and carbon-based material into more material for him to build with. This happens on a near instantaneous level, taking only seconds. What you saw was probably him gathering up more material to build with. He makes all of his creations with the new converted material.

 **PrincelySaberFangs** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 28th, 2011.

So what you're saying is that his Endbringers are actually made up of hundreds or thousands of this stuff?

You _do_ realise this means he just has to eat a city to make another Endbringer, right?

We're fucking screwed.

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* * *

 **Topic: Blacklight**

 **In: Boards Capes Brockton Bay**

 **Diam0ndPlayer56** (Original Poster)

Posted on May 30th, 2011.

I've been hearing a lot about Blacklight/Zeus on these boards. All these rumours of his powers and stuff. People saying that he's like Eidolon, or Scion and shit. But there's no record of him before. He just showed up out of nowhere. And all the information I've found is really contradictory and jumbled.

Could someone help me understand him better?

 **(Showing page 78 out of 278)**

 **Freethefireguy**

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

I heard from a friend that he can create black holes from his fingers. Make people disappear.

 **Nikeproseek**

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

naw man. that's bullshit. dud can turn to Cthulhu. Hes secretly an eldritch monster from another dimension.

 **MightyBlueDragon** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

I was at the fundraiser the night he and the Undersiders attacked. He showed off enhanced speed, agility, and durability. Could attack with sonic screams like Triumph. Can also make shockwaves by slamming his fists together, not sure if it's a power or just his strength. Only person who managed to fight back was Armsmaster, and Blacklight got around him by shooting spikes from the ground.

 **Alexking**

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

I think I know Blacklight. Had a friend who was really moody and angry all the time. Got into loads of fights. Went missing around last year. No one's heard from him since.

Coincidence? I think not.

 **Fisheater**

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

Alexking

I don't want to be _that_ guy, but I think your friend's dead.

You need to watch the press conference (found **here** ). Zeus pretty much admits that he's a bioweapon from another Earth. All his powers are completely natural. He can't be your friend.

 **Alexking**

Replied on May 31st, 2011.

Fisheater

Damn. Was worried he'd be dead. Fuck.

 **BoneBot2** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Replied on June 2nd, 2011.

Ok. This isn't going anywhere. Everyone's just posting every rumour they've heard about the guy since he's shown up, and given how powerful he is there's lots of rumours going around. While I can't clear up about his powers and his identity, I _can_ clear up who he has and hasn't beaten.

+Showed up in Brockton Bay robbing a bank. Glory Girl tries to stop him, gets beaten.

+A few days later, Glory Girl finds him again. Gets her ass beaten again.

+Pretty much all the Wards go to stop a group of villains from vandalising Mayor Christner's home. Ran into Blacklight. Got their asses whooped. All of them.

+Uber, Leet, and Bakuda team up to rob the Undersiders or something. Blacklight got involved. Uber and Leet were found beaten, reports say that Bakuda was killed.

+Gang war starts up. Blacklight kills _lots_ of ABB members. Lung gets dismembered, and Oni Lee runs for it. A few days later, no one can find him. And Lung was broken out of a van on the way to the Birdcage.

+Attacks a PRT Fundraiser. Beats up all the capes who avoided getting foamed.

+Blacklight attacks E3. Kaiser and Purity both go missing, and Night and Fog are brought in.

+Leviathan shows up. Can now confirm that Blacklight is the Endbringer Killer (See **this thread** for details). Result: Leviathan runs with his tail between his legs. Lowest death toll yet.

+Merchants start fucking things up. Blacklight pays them a visit, and kills them all. Gains territory.

+Protectorate, Wards, and PRT mass together to destroy Blacklight. He kills lots of people and kicks them out of the city. Everyone knows this.

It pretty is that from day 1 he showed that he was a powerful and dangerous badass. People kept escalating, but he could do it harder and faster than them.

Pro-tip: Leave my boss alone.

 **Athena**

Replied on June 2nd, 2011.

Fun fact: This is the _second_ time the PRT tried to bring my brother down. Formed Prometheus and had Armsmaster and Dragon working together. Still lost.

And Slaughterhouse Nine showed up in Brockton Bay. Zeus killed them all.

Oh, and he killed off Nilbog and his pets.

;)

 **Diam0ndPlayer56** (Original Poster)

Replied on June 2nd, 2011.

Athena

Srlsy? Zeus killed off S9? I thought Siberian and Crawler were invincible.

 **Athena**

Replied on June 2nd, 2011.

Diam0ndPlayer56 (Original Poster)

Siberian was actually a mental projection. She couldn't be hurt because there was nothing _to_ hurt. Bro found her real body and killed her that way. And Crawler just heals really fast. If he takes too much damage too quickly, he'll die like everyone else.

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* * *

 **Topic: Zeus/Athena Interview**

 **In: Boards Videos? Brockton Bay**

 **ultima-slayer** (Original Poster)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

Some lucky/insane reporter actually managed to get an interview with Zeus and Athena (see it **here** ). They were talking more about themselves, about their old world and what they did before they came here. Real interesting stuff.

 **(Showing page 9 out of 20)**

 **The Distraught Drake** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

Damn. I thought our world had it pretty bad. But their world (what should we call it?) has it even _worse_. The government is busy making and testing a zombie weapon? And those zombies can become civilisation-destroying monsters? _And_ the virus can hide in your body for months or years? _And_ the closest thing they had to a superhero was Zeus himself?

Makes me glad that I don't live _there_.

 **KingOfKnights** (White Knight)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

Blacklight is a plague on our world and a threat to our very way of life. He practically admits that he is a biological weapon who creates zombies and monsters, and that there's no known cure to him.

We must wipe him and his monsters out before they destroy us all!

 **washington time** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all!

 **ultima-slayer** (Original Poster)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

washington time

I'll take the chicken.

 **washington time** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

ultima-slayer

Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all! Destroy us all!

 **LoyaltoMyself**

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

KingOfKnights (White Knight)

R U RETARDED?!

 **SinfulAvenger** (Brockton Bay Refugee)

Posted on July 7th, 2011.

KingOfKnights (White Knight)

The heroes had the exact same idea. And all they managed to achieve was lose what few heroes we still have, cause an increase in crime across America, and give Zeus even _more_ powers. Hell, the guys that _made_ Zeus in the first place couldn't beat him. And they knew more about what he was capable of than we do.

 **washington time** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Posted on July 8th, 2011.

Seriousness though, Zeus explained about his virus to us. It's intelligent enough that he can use a hive mind to command them to not infect us. They just enter our bodies and pass on through without doing anything. Instead, he uses them to build amazing things. He's got beasts that can generate electricity and heat; collect water and purify it; and he's even made meat trees. Trees that have meat growing on them. Went up to a tree and plucked some pork chops, a string of sausages, and a whole chicken before heading over to our garden. The virus made a bumper crop. Picked up a watermelon so big that two of us needed to lift it and I needed a cart to take it home. An hour later, another watermelon was growing on that very spot.

Zeus is really awesome.

 **playstation432** (Brockton Bay Refugee) (Mount Olympus)

Posted on July 8th, 2011.

washington time

Yeah. I used to hate vegetables because of the taste. Then I hear that part of the garden is full of veggies that taste like chocolate and candy. I grab one to try, and it tastes like orange chocolate.

Zeus took the worst thing about veggies and made it awesome. Thank you Zeus.

 **Diam0ndPlayer56**

Posted on July 9th, 2011.

Could I move in with you guys? Mount Olympus sounds awesome.

 **End of Page.** **1** **,** **2** **,** **3** **,** **4** **,** **5** **… 9,** **10** **…** **19** **,** **20**

* * *

 **There we go. I felt that thirteen pages of stuff would be enough to give you guys a sense of how people are reacting to recent events. Apologies to anyone I used as a 'bad guy' in here, but I wanted to feature as many names as I could.**

 **Still, thank god that I could use the official Parahumans Online Interlude as a template for this. I wouldn't be sure how to format it otherwise.**

 **The only downside of having it like this is that I had a couple more ideas that I couldn't fit in without going over the 10 posts per page limit. One of them was talking about a drink Alex and Dana made called Ambrosia. It's normally a tasteless liquid, but everyone's given a special mug specially for them. They pour in a drink that they like to let the mug taste and sample it, and from then on any ambrosia that goes into their mug is altered by the virus to taste exactly like that drink. It's loaded with vitamins and minerals and other important stuff to make you healthy and strong.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this. And I** _ **really**_ **hope that lets me keep the formatting.**

 **Edit: Ok, so apparently does _not_ keep most editing. It looked really good and professional on my Word document. Dammit.**

 **Ah well. Just imagine the pluses are bullet points, and that there are arrows before everyone's bold names. And between the stuff in the 'In' lines.**


	16. Aftermath - Protectorate

**Ok then, the second interlude of… some amount. Honestly, given how many different POVs people want, it might take a few chapters. But hey, you guys asked, and you shall receive. And thanks to everyone for the ideas they're bringing in. There are so many I'm almost losing track of them. I should probably start writing them down somewhere.**

 **Now, several of you want an OC based on Lady Maria from Bloodborne. I've never actually played the game (don't have a PS4 and I'm not a fan of those 'Nintendo Hard' games like Dark Souls and stuff) but I've been reading about the game for a while, and I think it's a great idea. Got a few ideas for her, so we'll see her in a future interlude.**

 **Now, Goodpie2 pointed out that on Spacebattles, people have been talking about Shards of Impossibility. Some good, some bad. I gave it a quick look, even though criticisms of any kind tend to have me waste time mulling over my mistakes instead of writing, and I saw there were some genuine points in there. First off, while this started off as trying to treat both sides evenly, I won't pretend that Alex wasn't always going to be a damn badass. I'm a big Prototype fan (really wish we'd get a third game) and so like many fanfic writers, my story is going to support my favourite mass-murdering grumpy machine. I know some people come here for the Worm side of things, but it seems that plenty are enjoying seeing Alex being an uber badass that kicks ass and takes names.**

 **That said, during these interludes, I am planning on focusing more on the Worm world than Alex. He'll be relegated to a background character for the interludes, unless he needs to step forward for some reason. So people can end up talking to him, or fighting him, or just meeting him, but they won't be focused on him. And I will introduce capes and other things that could be a bit more of a challenge for him (or as much as they can when he's functionally immortal. Think Alucard from Hellsing, but even stronger).**

 **Well, can't think of anything else to say without spoiling the interlude. So let's get into it.**

* * *

 **Chapter 16: Aftermath – Protectorate**

Legend sighed as he finally reached his home. The day had been a draining time, both physically and emotionally. All those families he had to personally meet, to tell them that their children aren't coming home anymore. Sorting out what was left of their forces, trying to figure out how long they could mourn their fallen for. Looking at the reports flooding in from all over America, looking for patterns and seeing which areas needed back-up. Eidolon offered to help, but as the sole 'face' of the Triumvirate, this was mostly something he could only do himself.

 _Damn you Rebecca._ He thought angrily. _None of this would've happened if you hadn't thought you knew all the answers. You should've waited for Contessa, Doctor Mother, and The Number Man to have sorted through everything and made a decision. But no, you couldn't. You were so damn sure that only_ _ **you**_ _knew the right course that you just jumped in without thinking._ He then felt ashamed for thinking like that. She had only been trying to do the right thing. And he had gone along with it. He _knew_ that their fight would've eventually spread to Mercer. But he had believed that the sheer number of capes on their side would've overwhelmed him.

How naïve of him to think that. Mercer was akin to an Endbringer than a man. It amazed him how science and luck had created such a monster. He sighed again as he walked down the hall, pulling his mask off.

There was the sound of running feet, and then Arthur – gentle, handsome Arthur – came running into the hallway, glasses askew. He took one look at Legend before running to him, wrapping his arms around him. Legend pulled him into a hug, and felt his tears against his suit. They both stood there, holding each other close and crying quietly.

"I… I never thought… Never thought I'd see you again." Arthur sobbed. Legend felt a twinge of guilt. He had been so busy picking up the shattered pieces and trying to put them back together again that he never called Arthur to let him know he was alive. Shame flooded him. Some husband he was.

"I'm sorry." He apologised. "I should've told you that I survived as soon as I could. I've just been…"

"I know." Arthur let go of him, one hand wiping the tears away. He gave him a sad smile. "You've been busy. By god, you've been busier than ever."

"…How much news has been reported?" He asked, feeling worried. Depending on what they said, his job could get even more difficult.

"They're still talking about it. I've been watching it in the living room." Arthur turned around and walked back into the room he came out of. Legend followed him, eager to see what was being said. The TV showed an aerial shot of what had been the Brockton Bay PRT Offices, and the massive craters the worm monster had made. A female news reporter was talking.

"…Concerns about the Protectorate's ability to now police the country." She was saying. "Crime has steadily been rising over the past twenty-four hours as villains and criminals alike realise that there are just not enough heroes to stop them all. Several capes have been reported to have left their offices in anger, reportedly resigning in protest of what happened. The PRT itself is now stretched thin trying to fill out the numbers and make an appearance to try and keep the peace. Of greater concern though…" Arthur muted the TV, turning to look at Legend. Legend took in his appearance, drinking it in so he would always remember him. A shorter, thinner man, with frizzled red hair. Horn-rimmed glasses and a narrow face.

"Is it really as bad as they're saying, John?" He asked quietly.

Legend sighed. "Worse." He flopped down into his favourite chair. "This is just the problems we're facing in the short-term. The long-term effects are going to be even worse. Villains are going to be more daring now. Not just because there's fewer of us, but because they see us as too weak to stop them. Civilians and the government are going to be more critical about us now. People aren't going to remember all the good we've done, all the lives we've saved. They're going to remember that despite our best efforts, we lost and entire city to one villain."

"Blacklight."

"It's Zeus now. Don't really get why he changed it. Don't suppose it really matters. Doesn't change the fact that we keep fighting him and he just. Keeps. Winning."

"I'm not sure if I would call those…"

"They _are_ victories, Arthur." He said heatedly. "Every fight, he ends up in a better position than before. He adapts to what's worked before, he gains new powers, he gains _something_ from his fights. And meanwhile everyone else loses somebody to him." He sighed, pressing both hands against his head. "Sorry. I don't mean to yell at you."

"You're in a bad situation. It's perfectly fine to need to vent." Arthur said soothingly, hand resting on his shoulder. Thank god he was so understanding. "You lost good people; people you've gotten to know for years. Anyone would be upset about that. What's important is that you have some time to mourn them, and then you keep fighting the good fight." Legend stood back up, pulling Arthur into a hug. "It'll be ok. You guys will bounce back from this. You always do."

Legend didn't say anything though. He didn't want to admit a harsh truth. That this might just be something you can't come back from.

* * *

That night, Legend woke up to hearing his phone blaring. Three rings, and then stop. Three rings, and then stop.

An emergency signal.

"What does the Protectorate want at _this_ time of night?" Arthur mumbled sleepily, rolling over and wrapping his pillow around his head. John groaned as he fumbled for the phone, fingers trying to press the call button.

"Legend." He said curtly, supressing a yawn. Downside of being the leader of the Protectorate is that you were _always_ on call. No matter the time or place.

"Legend, we have an emergency." Triumph said. After they had been kicked out of Brockton Bay, he and other members of their Protectorate had been shuffled around to help fill out some of the other teams. Even now he wasn't sure who was where. "The Adepts are currently attempting to rob a bank, and Snaptrap is fighting them on his own. He needs support as soon as possible."

"Right. I'll be there soon. How quickly can you join in?"

"I can't. I was just about to head off to help Gully deal with some kind of new Empire Eighty Eight. Seems someone decided to make their own gang here in New York."

Legend resisted the urge to sigh. And now the trouble started piling on. The lack of capes able to fight meant that so many crooks were crawling out into the open to take advantage of the chaos. "Understood. Stay safe out there Triumph. We can't afford to lose anyone else."

"I know sir." And he hung up. Legend sighed again, but managed to get up and head to the wardrobe. By the time he was suited up, Arthur was fully awake.

"It's going to be like this for a while, isn't it?" He said. It wasn't a question, but a fact they both knew. "How long for?"

"I'm not sure. Hopefully, it'll only be a few days before everything starts settling down. But it might actually take weeks, or months to replenish our numbers and regain control again." Legend gave him a tired smile. "We'll pull through, eventually. Just stay safe until then." He moved in and gave Arthur a kiss on his forehead, before heading out onto the balcony to fly away.

Arthur kept watching the streak of light, even when it faded away.

* * *

Carlos sat on the steps, eyes grey and dull as he kept staring at the line of pictures before him. A memorial to all the heroes who fell against Blacklight. Against Zeus. So many good people who died because the Protectorate jumped the gun. His eyes lingered on the faces of his former Ward teammates. Dennis. Dean. Browbeat... All gone. Killed in action. Zeus didn't even leave remains to be buried. He just devoured them whole.

And now he's in control of an entire city. Where's the justice in all this?

He heard the sound of shuffling feet, and the sound of someone smaller sitting next to him. He glanced over, and saw Missy sitting by him. Her mask was off, lying in her lap. Her eyes were shimmering, tears threatening to burst.

He heard her take a deep, shuddering breath. "Hey." She said to him. "We just heard that the Teeth have had a schism of some kind, and half of them left New York. Legend wants some of us to go in and round up what's left. Raise morale and show people that we're not down and out. I was hoping you'd come with us." Silence. Carlos might as well have been a statue for all the reaction he gave her. "Carlos; we need you. _I_ need you. Please, don't leave me alone. Say _something_ , please."

He finally stirred. "It should be me on this wall." He said softly. "They should be here right now mourning _me_. I'm the one with regenerative powers. I'm the one who can survive nearly dying. If I had stayed nearby, maybe I could've saved them."

"You're one of our flyers; it's only natural that you'd be up in the sky fighting that thing instead. And what about the others who died? How could you have saved them too?" She sniffled. "And who's to say that things would've gotten worse if that Endbringer had gotten time to focus on us?"

"Focus? We were barely distracting it. It just kept going while we did barely anything to it." He retorted.

" _My point_ is that you don't know what might've happened. For all we know, I might be here, looking at _four_ pictures." She pulled him into a hug. "Please, stay with me. Don't do something stupid as a way to redeem yourself or something. We need you."

He sighed, pulling her closer to him. "Alright. I won't do anything stupid. And I guess three days is long enough to spend feeling sorry for myself." He let her go, and rubbed at his face. He was starting to look a little scraggly, what with the stubby facial hair. "I'll go with you on this mission. And afterwards… Well, I think I'll finally tidy myself up. I must look pathetic."

Missy wiped one of her cheeks. "A little." Their touching moment was interrupted by the sound of running feet. Chris nearly stumbled as he ran into the memorial.

"Guys, you need to see this." He said hurriedly. "Zeus is having a press conference right now." And he started running back, not checking if they were following or not. They looked at each other for a moment before rushing off after him. Maybe they could get an idea of what his plans are going to be through this. Plenty of people have been fleeing from Brockton Bay, with only the desperate, stupid, or sycophantic staying behind.

Yes, he knew that most of them fund better living conditions under Zeus. But he refused to admit that. Bad enough he was a murderous monster; there was no way he'd admit that Zeus could protect people better than they could.

"…Outside City Hall, where Zeus has called for a press conference after four days of rumours and speculation." A youngish female reporter was saying, her blond hair swaying in the wind. "Here, today, we may finally learn just what exactly planned for the remaining citizens of Brockton Bay." The crowd behind her started gasping, pointing up into the air. The reporter turned to look upwards too. "And here he comes now, with his Pantheon not far behind." The camera was lifted up, catching sight of nearly a dozen flyers heading towards them. Half of which had a passenger on their backs. The beasts landed first, black dragons and griffons and other monsters, depositing their passengers. Athena was first, the bottom of her mask gone to reveal pale skin. Alongside her were the Undersiders, Trickster of The Travellers, and Coil. Evidently, all members who had decided to join Zeus instead of running or fighting. The monsters shifted, their flesh shrinking and altering, until they were people again. The other flyers landed, their wings shrinking away. All were fully covered in black chitinous armour, decorated in lines of gold, jewels, and Greek-styled additions and masks. At the head of the group, standing right in the centre, was Blacklight.

His appearance had changed. Instead of wearing lots of half-formed spikes, his armour had smoothed out so that the spikes were more streamlined. His gauntlets, whilst still adorned with claw-like fingers, appeared to be made of gold, along with his boots. His helmet now also resembled a face, a stern expression and a large molded beard. A golden crown, resembling a laurel wreath, wrapped around his head.

Evidently, Zeus decided to follow the same style as the rest of his team.

He placed both hands on the podium before him, the wood creaking ominously. "People of Brockton Bay." He said, his voice a mixture of deep and raspy. "Athena has been hearing the rumours and ideas that have sprung up over these past few days. About how this is the first step to total world domination, or its destruction, or any other childish plan. I am here to help dispel the more ludicrous ideas and clear up what will happen. I suppose we should start with my plans for the city itself." The crowd, who went silent the moment they had landed, started murmuring to each other. This was it. The moment he would threaten them, or announce his complete domination over their lives, or even perhaps just start killing them. "My plans for Brockton Bay… Are exactly what I said when I evicted the so-called heroes."

"What?" Chris asked in confusion.

"I don't _want_ to have to be in charge of an entire city." Zeus continued. "I'm not interested in obtaining control over a city, or wealth, or anything that the other villains want. All I wanted was a place where my sister and I could live without having to worry about someone attacking us. The crimes I committed were done to get the money needed for necessities, or to remove those I felt were a threat to her. In fact, the only reason I even _became_ a villain was because Athena knew that villainy was the fastest way to make money, and best suited my skill range. If the Protectorate had simple left us alone, if they left _me_ alone, then none of this would've happened. They'd still be trying ineffectually to keep control, while I would be creating a safer environment in their stead. Yet time and again, they kept pissing me off, launching attack after attack. This last fight was the final straw. They tried to kill me and everyone under my protection, and they kidnapped Athena. Consider me merciful for even letting what was left leave alive."

"I'm going to place my own people in charge of the city. But as far as you should be concerned, nothing's changed. You still live your lives, work your jobs, and do whatever it is you do for fun. You won't even pay any extra taxes. But you start up something in my city, and you'll only get three chances before my men kill you. Less if I'm feeling pissed off."

"As for the rest of the world… Learn from what happened here. You don't pick a fight with me, I don't come over to your place and murder the hell out of you. Everybody wins." He stopped leaning forward. "It sounds reasonable to _me_ , so I'll be very angry someone decides that they'd rather test my power."

"And a message for any criminals that enter Brockton Bay. If you come here for anything other than swearing fealty to me, then you've signed your death warrant. No matter what power you have, my Pantheon and I _will_ hunt you down and kill you. There will be no mercy, for anyone." "And he moved to walk away, the conference obviously over in his mind.

"Zeus?" A woman called out from the crowd, pushing to the front. "Darcy Dallas, Brockton Bay News. People are wondering whether you are going to expand your creations to replace the city. And what will you do about the damage you caused assaulting the PRT Offices?"

Athena stepped forward. "We'll have scouts and eyes across the city to ensure public safety, but everyone outside of Mount Olympus will live in their regular homes instead of our creations. As for the damages…" She shrugged. "Anyone looking for work and has some knowledge of construction?" Zeus shifted into his flying form, screeching at Athena. She turned and hopped on board, the rest of the villains joining them in flight.

Darcy pushed her way back to the camera. "Well, there you have it folks. Despite worries, it seems that Zeus is only interested in enforcing his idea of peace, and not having people bother him. Whether or not this will be what _actually_ happens is still up for debate. This is Darcy Dallas, signing off."

The Wards were silent for a moment. "Fucking asshole." Jouster cursed. "I hope everyone's smart enough to leave his shithole."

* * *

Legend looked up at the sound of knocking on his door. He called out to them, and the door opened. He smiled as he saw who was on the other side.

"Miss Militia." He said in relief. "I'm glad to see you're back on your feet. A lot of people were worried about you."

Miss Militia nodded, her scarf lowered to reveal a nervous smile. "We lost so many people. Anyone who survived is treated like a hero." She shuffled the papers in her hands. "I just wish I was coming to you with good news."

He sighed, the good mood evaporating. "More reports?"

She nodded. "These are the latest figures for the number of people moving to Brockton Bay." She said as she handed them over.

Of course they were. It had been a week since Zeus had his little press conference. Nearly three days since his men had wiped out or scared off the last of the Chosen, and Brockton Bay had been declared villain-free. Considering that it was the only city out there with such an acclaim, people had started flocking to it. First in a trickle, now in droves. Not as many as the PRT was afraid of, but definitely a noticeable amount.

His eyes scrolled through the report, rushing to the bottom to see the final tally. Six-hundred and eighty-nine people. With a further four-hundred waiting to be processed.

Three days, and his ghost town was becoming a city again.

He sighed again, dropping the report and rubbing his eyes. "Damn. What about the wall he's building? How completed is that?"

"Scouts report that about twenty-seven percent of it has been laid out. But fortunately, he hasn't 'acquired' enough biomass to build it fast enough. Our best guess is that anyone who wants to take a shot at him is probably going to do it soon, while they can still sneak in." She shifted her stance, looking worried. "We're not going to try and take advantage of this, are we?"

"Hell no." He replied instantly. "Even if we hadn't just screwed up in the eyes of the world, we don't have the numbers to take him on. I was just curious as to what's happening there. We might need to sneak scouts inside to keep a better eye on him once that wall gets built." He sighed again. "There's just so much to deal with just with Brockton Bay. I'm having a hard enough time keeping up with all the changes we've had to make to the Protectorate to make ends meet."

"…Coffee break?" Miss Militia offered. "Maybe spend half an hour out of the office, take things a bit easier? You've been working harder than anyone; you deserve to have a quick rest."

He wanted to argue that he couldn't, that he needed to fix Alexandria's mistake, that he needed to help police the country. But a twinge of exhaustion struck him. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in over two weeks; hadn't even managed to get home during that time. His life has been takeouts and sleeping on the sofa since Brockton.

"You know what? I think I _do_ deserve to take a break. I'm no good to anyone running myself ragged." He stood up, stretching his muscles after spending so long practically glued to his seat.

Miss Militia smiled again. "Great. I found a wonderful coffee shop near the centre of the city. Shouldn't take too long for us both to get there."

"Allow me." He said opening the large windows in his office. Perfect size for him to fly out of. Miss Militia stepped forward, and let him lift her up before flying outside. She directed him to the shop, gently correcting him when he started listing in the wrong direction. People looked up when they both landed.

Most of the looks were simply surprise from seeing two heroes landing in a perfectly normal environment. But he couldn't help but notice several people glaring at them instead.

"Ahh." Miss Militia gasped after she took a deep sip of her coffee. "That feels _much_ better. I've been surviving on hospital food this whole time. I feels great to get something that actually tastes like food."

"Mmhm." Legend nodded, taking smaller sips as they walked. Sure, he could fly. But it seemed a bit arrogant to fly everywhere when his two perfectly normal legs were still functional. And besides, Miss Militia couldn't fly. It was only fair he didn't.

They walked for a bit in silence, both lost in their own worlds. Militia was probably thinking about all the heroes who weren't so lucky to have survived near death. Meanwhile, he was mulling over how much their reputation had suffered since word got out about how they tried to blow up Mount Olympus with everyone still in it.

 _Dammit Alexandria. Why did you start this whole mess?_

His musing and depression was interrupted as he heard a lot of shouting not that far away. From the sounds of it, it was just one man yelling. Miss Militia noticed him turning away towards the sound, and quickly followed him.

"Brothers and Sisters." A middle-aged man in a black robe was shouting. "The government would tell us that we should fear Him; that He is a monster that destroys all that he touches and corrupts the very heart of our once-proud country. They warn us that He will slaughter all who go near him." Legend could actually hear the capitalisation of the words in his sentences, such was his volume and strength of voice. "But those are lies meant to make us sheep. What do they _truly_ fear?"

"That He is not a dog on their leash." The large crowd before the man replied in unison. "That He has done more to make our world a better place than they ever could. That He will improve us all, and make illness and old age a mere memory."

The man nodded. Now that he wasn't pacing around, Legend could get a better look at him. He had full dark hair and a large moustache, that curved down to meet his mutton chops. His face was lined, but he couldn't have been more than forty. As for his build, the robe suggested that he was a strong and fit man. "Yes, exactly. They fear the loss of control that His presence brings forth; they fear that they will no longer be able to squeeze us for every coin we have for basic human rights, to the rights of good health and recovery. And most of all, they fear that which is better than them. They call us monsters and freaks simply because we do not want to remain as base humans. But base is weak and imperfect, subject to the pains and dangers of aging, of violence, of bad luck. As soon as man is born, his life is one constant struggle to remain alive on this world. But the Evolved… The Evolved are near perfection. Humans with their flaws and weaknesses removed. No longer do they have to fear broken bones; no longer do they fear disease and illness. They are at the peak of human potential and beyond, able to live far longer lives than us mere mortals. The Evolved are not monsters. They are still human, improved and made greater. But they lie about Him and His gifts, to keep us under their thumb. Do we wish to remain weak and fragile, in a world where so many dangers await us?"

"No!" The crowd shouted back.

"What is this?" Legend asked Miss Militia, even as the speaker kept shouting.

"You _must've_ been busy; even I've heard of them. They call themselves The Church of Blacklight. Worshippers of Zeus and his creations."

"Zeus has a cult now?" He never heard anything about people worshipping him like a god. It must've slipped by, some unimportant note in a long list of facts. It would've been easy to miss.

"Pretty much, though according to rumours they're not just a cult anymore. They've been popping up all over the country, saying that the government is trying to stop people from enjoying the bounty of Blacklight. Apparently, someone's been talking about what the Virus is capable of."

"It can turn an ordinary man into a near-unkillable superhuman, able to fight and defeat Parahumans. No wonder they worship him so badly."

Miss Militia shook her head sadly. "I'm still having trouble understanding why they'd want something like that. They want to intentionally infect themselves with a deadly virus. Surely they're insane."

"We haven't exactly given them a reason to think otherwise. Not after how they managed to beat us." Legend said. "My biggest concern is that they could end up becoming secret bio bombs for Zeus." He shrugged. "My best suggestion is that we don't give him a reason to ever unleash them upon the world. We can't exactly arrest them for worshipping Zeus. People would say that we're ignoring their right to worship."

"Nasty business with no clear way out." Militia said sadly. She probably would've said more, but they were interrupted by Legend's phone beeping. He gave it a quick glance, and felt his heart drop.

A simple C was on screen. Cauldron.

"Back to work then?" Miss Militia guessed.

He nodded. "Duty calls. Such is the life of a hero."

"Take care then."

"I will." He flew upwards onto a roof, confident that no one would immediately hear his call. He tapped the phone symbol, his phone already calling the untraceable number.

It answered on the first ring. "Legend." Doctor Mother said instantly. "We have an important task for you."

"I gathered that much." He replied. "You don't make social calls. What do you want me to do?"

"We've been going over the data we recovered from Alexandria's failed assault on Mercer. His skills and powers make him a key part of our plans to save the world. If we could forge an alliance with him, then we could send parahumans with useful abilities to him if they refuse to follow our guidelines. No need to worry about losing them any longer."

"Doctor, you seem to be working under the assumption that he will even consider working with us. He's already banished every hero from Brockton Bay. He'd never agree to an alliance. Assuming he even stopped to listen instead of trying to kill me for being on his territory."

"Despite his actions, Mercer has never been a mindless brute. He's smart, cunning, and devious. He will likely listen simply because he knows he can kill you if he dislikes what he hears. But if we don't manage to forge this union, then he could be yet another threat to the world that we will have difficulty fighting back. Assuming he doesn't simply infect everyone."

Legend sighed. She _did_ have a point. But what if they already lost their chance? What if Mercer won't even bother listening to their proposal? He'd be walking into certain doom, likely risking Arthur's life too once Mercer scours his memories.

But if there was a way to reach a peaceful solution with Mercer…

"Alright. I'll do it." He finally replied.

"Excellent. Head to these coordinates first. There you will find a drone linked to our headquarters. With it, we will be able to speak to Mercer from the comforts of being a sizable distance away." And then she hung up.

 _Oh sure._ _ **I'm**_ _the only one at risk of dying here. Not that it matters apparently._

He flew away, moving a great speed. The sooner he did this, the sooner he could live again.

* * *

Legend slowed down considerably as he reached the city limits of Brockton Bay. Here it was. The line separating the world from Mount Olympus. If he crossed here, he would be in direct violation of Mercer's orders. His life would very well be forfeit.

He took a deep breath, and then floated over the imaginary line. He kept at a steady speed; not too fast as to appear aggressive. It didn't take long for his arrival to be noticed.

What he had originally taken for mere birds quickly approached, growing in size as they closed the distance. They were winged Infected, obviously designed just in case someone tried to fly in. He took in their details as they approached. Their wings were jagged at the front and tips, obviously designed for cutting. They were dripping with green acid, drops flying with every flap. For a face, they had maws filled with sharp fangs, and they also came with long whipping tails.

He raised one hand, a white cloth hanging from his fingers. "Hold, Mercer. I am not here for a fight. I simply want to talk." The 'birds' hissed, still flying towards him. "Once we are done talking, I'll leave. I'll never come near your territory again." Still they kept coming. He started backing away. "We need your help to deal with a world-destroying threat. One that even _you_ can't beat alone."

At this, the Infected slowed down. Their wings stopped dripping with acid. They stacked on top of each other, a single pair of wings growing in size. In only a few seconds, Zeus flapped before him in all his terrifying glory.

He tilted his head. "Alright. That last part got my attention, if only because I don't think you're stupid enough to think I'll work with what's left of the Protectorate after what you did to us. I'll listen to what you have to say, and then I'll throw it in your face."

Legend breathed a sigh of relief. Well, he wasn't about to die. That was a step in the right direction. Now he had to walk the minefield that was diplomacy. "First off, I want to apologise for what happened. Alexandria attacked you without authorisation. We were originally coming here to clean up the other parts of the city. Beat the Chosen, clear out the Travellers and Undersiders. We would've left you alone, if only because Alexandria, Eidolon and I know that you are far more dangerous than you appear."

"If you all knew, then why did you keep pissing me off?"

"As I said, Alexandria attacked you without our permission. And she's paid for her mistake."

Mercer started cracking his knuckles. "Get to the fucking point already."

Legend took another breath. "I don't just work for the Protectorate." He said quickly. "I'm also part of a secret organisation determined to save the world from extremely dangerous threats. The Endbringers for starters."

"And I'm guessing I'm on that list." Mercer said.

"Not quite." He pulled out the box from under his arm, opening it up. Inside was a small robotic drone with a screen on the front. He pressed the biggest button, and it booted up. It floated out of his hands and hovered before Mercer, the screen lighting up.

He already knew who would be on the other side. Doctor Mother.

"Greetings, Alex Mercer." She said. "As predicted, you are smart enough to listen to what we have to say. I am Doctor Mother, the leader of Cauldron."

Mercer titled his head again. "You know who I am."

"We know quite a bit, Mercer. We've managed to gain access to other worlds. Yours was one of them. We were actually planning on recruiting you at a later date originally, mainly because your Infected would be useful as soldiers. Now we are offering you a deal."

"You're the assholes who brought us here in the first place." He said tightly.

"… I beg your pardon?" She actually sounded surprised.

"Dana and I ended up here in the first place because some creeps grabbed her and dragged her into some white room. I followed, and when I started killing them they kicked us out. We found ourselves here, in Brockton Bay. And when I attacked the Merchants, I found documents that said that a group called Cauldron offered super powers in cans. A quick information trade with Faultline, and I find out that Cauldron kidnap people from other versions of Earth to test their concoctions on. After that, everything fell into place." Legend looked at the drone in shock. _That_ was how Cauldron test their samples? They told him that the Number Man could calculate their effects to the most minute detail, and that Manton had been behind the Case 53s.

They've been lying to him this whole time.

"In that case, I apologise for that incident as well." Doctor Mother replied after a while. "Rest assured, had I known that our men tried to grab your sister I would've demanded her release. As it stands, I assume that few of them survived the experience. But we must put the past behind us. Right now, we have much to discuss."

"So you and your lapdog say. Doesn't mean I have to listen."

"You're a smart man, Mercer. A doctorate degree from Columbia University. A high-ranking job in Gentek. The leading man in taking the Redlight virus and making it even stronger. And that is all before you gained the intelligence of your former colleagues. Surely you must understand that what we have to say is important."

Mercer waved a hand. "Just get to the point."

"I will be brief then. Our goals are simple. To create enough heroes to save the world from self-destruction, and the elimination of powerful threats to our very existence. One way we deal with the latter is through ensuring that those with powerful and dangerous powers are in a position to help. We try to keep them away from danger as much as possible, but sometimes they decide to become threats to the world instead. Before, we would try to find ways of keeping the powers whilst removing the individual. Your abilities make this easier now. So, here are our terms. We will use our influence to make sure you and your city are left alone, along with supplying you with biomass from uninhabited worlds we've discovered and a supply of any parahuman we've decided must be dealt with. In exchange, you will help us deal with our problems, and make no attempt to destroy the Protectorates. Along with keeping the Blacklight virus in check."

Mercer shrugged. "As long as you understand that I can tell you guys to fuck off if I don't like what your orders are. You may need me, but I don't need you."

"It could mean the difference between your sister living till old age, or dying in a fiery demise. In addition, we are willing to send you and Dana back to your original world…"

"Fuck that." Mercer interrupted. "Going back to a world where I'm a terrorist and Blackwatch is hunting us down? I'm a king over here."

"Understood. So, do you agree to our terms."

Mercer shrugged. "Fine then. I'll play. Now if it's all the same, get your pet out of my airspace."

"Of course. Legend, you may leave now." He merely nodded, and took off at speed.

Well, the die has been cast. Now to see if this would be a powerful union… or backfire horribly.

* * *

 **And… scene. I probably could've focused on some other survivors, like Battery. But I felt that this was a good length for this chapter. Also, it's nearly midnight while I write this, and tomorrow I need to be out of the house so it can get sprayed for bugs. Might as well finish this now for you guys instead of finding a place to shoehorn her in.**

 **Now, as a single male that's never been in a relationship, I find romance to be a tad difficult. As a** _ **straight**_ **single male, I find writing gay romance (hope that's not insulting to anyone gay) to be a bit more so. I just went ahead and wrote what came to mind and hoped I hit more than I missed. Also, there's no description for what Arthur looks like, but I just feel as though a guy with glasses (and probably auburn hair) is definitely an Arthur. Kinda like someone named Brittany is always blond and pretty.**

 **Now, the Church of Blacklight. I felt that this was a natural progression to the world. People would get scared, people would be shocked, and some people would be amazed. There was an interview that explained a bit more about what Blacklight can do, and people latched onto it. Alex may not want a church, but like most influential people he's getting one. I could describe how it was founded and stuff, but since the preacher is going to have an interlude of his own, I figured I'd wait till then. And we could also finally see that interview. You know, the one that also talks about Earth Delta, as I call it.**

 **Well, that's it for now. The next interlude might either be Maria, Fireteam Prometheus, or The Pantheon. The Undersiders might probably be after that.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Edit: Got a review from a guest named mbwakali, and I really want to address what they said... And that's 'what are you talking about?' Use spell check? I _do_ use spell check in my word documents. It's hardly my fault that the in-built dictionary apparently doesn't consider some real words to be in its database. And half the time it tries to fix my grammar, it turns the whole thing into a big jumbled mess. And aside from you, everyone else considers it to be well written.**

 **Either you're a troll, or your standards are so damn high as to be unobtainable by mere mortals who apparently cannot speak 'proper English'. You know, the language I've been speaking and writing my entire life? And I don't use a beta because I'm too impatient to wait for someone to read through this for the tiniest mistakes when my fans have probably been waiting weeks for my next chapter. You could spend years going over every last detail in a chapter, and someone could still find a flaw.**

 **Besides, I don't recall ever saying I'm trying to make a literature 'masterpiece' instead of writing something fun.**

 **Sorry to everyone else about something that turned into a big rant.**


	17. Aftermath - Lady Maria: Revised

**Sorry I've been away for so long. As I keep finding out, weeks can pass by really quickly when you're doing several stories at once, playing video games, watching shows and going to work. Work is also a big reason this took so long. Earlier this year, I got a second job to get some more money. So before I had five days off to do things I wanted. But not I've only got three days off split across the week (Tues, Wed, and Sat) and so there's things I really want to do during that time.**

 **You might have already noticed that this isn't exactly a new chapter. While plenty of people enjoyed the Lady Maria chapter, there were a couple who didn't like it and made some pretty good points as to why.** **Anonzerotengmai, Selias, and WanderingScholar. Anon suggested that I have Maria come from an alternate Earth like Alex had, and then I thought 'why not just bring Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower herself in'? I told this to rikeproseet, and he agreed that it sounded** _ **much**_ **better than the old chapter. And he also let me know of a document to help sort out the confusing backstory of Bloodborne, called The Paleblood Hunt. It's still a little confusing though, so if her backstory seems a little confusing… blame interpretation.**

 **With that said, have a read of this chapter and tell me what you think. Do you guys like this one better, or the old one?**

* * *

 **Chapter 17: Aftermath – Lady Maria: Revised.**

It was a peaceful night in Brockton Bay, with only a few people left wandering the streets. Around this area of the city, it was mainly white-skinned beggars and thieves still searching for shelter or prey; anyone else had been chased out by fans of Empire Eighty-Eight long ago. They all knew better than to try their trade here. Not after rumours spread of several half-eaten bodies being found, ravaged by a large wolf-like monster. Hookwolf. Whether it was true or not was irrelevant. It sent the message it wanted.

Be pure or be dead.

Maria had nothing to worry about down here. Her skin was white enough to be considered pale, her face framed by light blond hair. And she currently lying in wait, hiding on the rooftops above and keeping watch for anything suspicious. Tonight couldn't go badly; too many people were relying on them.

She tapped at her comms. "Cainhurst to squad leader; surrounding area is clear. No signs of another shift approaching."

"Copy that Cainhurst." Captain Griffin replied, his voice gruff and loud in her ears. "We have the targets in our sights."

"How many?"

"About ten skinheads surrounding fifteen kids. E3 presence is just Rune and Cricket."

She nodded. No doubt Kaiser was leaving this kind of dirty work to someone else. Let them take the glory _and_ the fall. That way, he can say they kidnapped all these kids without his permission. Plausible deniability, the smug bastard. "According to our intel, the next shift change should be in thirty minutes. I'll stay here in case they arrive early."

"Copy that Cainhurst. Squad moving into position." She already knew what they were doing. They would surround the skylights on the roof, approaching from several different directions. Jump down and toss some flashbangs. While the supremacists were still reeling, they'd use riot rounds to put them down before Jeffery and Clint sprayed as many targets with containment foam as possible. Standard ops, short and sweet. They had gone over this a hundred times.

Of course, that wasn't to say it would actually _work_.

"On my mark." Griffin said. "Three… Two… One… Mark." She could hear the shattering of glass in the night air, the squad moving already. Next would come the bang of the flashbangs, then the sound of the guns firing, then…

A window on her side of the warehouse shattered, something jumping out.

"Shit!" Griffin swore. "Cainhurst, Cricket is making a run for it! Her senses made flashbangs ineffective! Don't let her escape!"

"Understood sir. Moving to intercept." She replied, stowing her binoculars and grabbing her rifle. She was already running by the time it was in her hands, jumping down onto the next tier rooftop as she moved towards Cricket's path. The villain may have had a head start, but Maria was tall and sprightly; she was already catching up. She made it to ground level quickly, firing a quick burst-shot to try and slow her down. Cricket jumped over the shots with ease, but it _did_ force her to swerve and swing away, slowing her down just a fraction. Cricket used her momentum and the pipe she was holding onto to jump up over the wall before them, disappearing over the other side. Maria used her height to jump for the lip of the wall, grabbing it with one hand and using both to pull herself over. Instead of jumping down like Cricket had done, she then jumped for the rooftop next to them, running down it with speed until she could see Cricket again. She then acrobatically jumped down, landing in front of Cricket. And the way out.

Cricket responded by pulling free her kamas, and slashing at Maria's hands. She intercepted the blow with her rifle, the force of the hit knocking it from her hands. Cricket smirked and got closer, obviously thinking that Maria was unarmed.

But she carried a piece of equipment that no one else in the PRT had.

Maria pulled out the two parts of her specialised blade, her Rakuyo, and snapped them together, the magnetic properties of the metal allowing them to join with ease. Cricket tilted her head at the sight, but brandished her kamas and charged in, making a high-pitched sound. Maria had read the reports; read how several officers felt nauseous after she started doing that for an extended amount of time. Already she could feel her equilibrium start to feel off.

Fine. She'll just have to finish this quickly then.

She charged forward to meet Cricket, surprising her with her turn of speed. The villain swung her kamas to intercept her charge, but they struck her Rakuyo with a loud clang. Maria kicked out at her and pulled her blade free, swinging it against the kamas. Cricket bounded away and jumped off the wall, using the momentum to aid her attack. The force pushed Maria back, but she stood her ground. She grasped at the join between her blades, and pulled the shorter blade free. Using the rapier itself to keep blocking, she swung the off-hand blade with all her might, the flat of the blade slamming into Cricket's hand. She dropped her kama, fingers likely numb. As she jumped away, Maria moved forward again, swinging both blades this time. The other kama went flying, and she then slammed the hilts into her face. Cricket went down, and the feeling of nausea stopped. The world became deafening.

Footsteps on approach. Lots of them. She turned to see her squadmate Sam on approach, huffing slightly as he came to a stop. He took in the villain on the ground, the blade in Maria's hands, and the lack of blood staining them.

He nodded at her. "Nice work Cainhurst. And here we were worried she got away from you."

* * *

"You know, it's things like this that make me keep coming back to this job." Clint said on the way back to HQ, his foam pack lying at his feet.

"Seeing good people happy to be back with their loved ones?" Sam asked.

"Hell yeah. _And_ putting the sons of bitches hurting them behind bars. Hey, Maria. Great job stopping Cricket from getting away. That's probably another dozen people not getting hurt right now."

She smiled. "Just doing my job Clint. It's nothing special."

"Nah. Shooting someone's foot out from under them from fifty meters away in the dead of night is nothing. Taking on a parahuman in a sword fight though? That there is _something_."

"I was lucky. None of her powers do any direct damage or help her attack. Her skill with her kamas is simply that; skill. Fortunately, I was the better fighter." The truck slowed to a halt, obviously back at HQ. They all jumped out and headed in doors, congratulating each other and slapping themselves on the back. Maria gave a small smile as she followed the team inside. They passed by a few other officers on standby, a couple who were glaring at her. Then they spoke, and her mood fell rapidly.

"Well, here's the 'noble' lady, back from stopping some horrific atrocity." One of them said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "I wonder how many people are missing a pint or two."

"Dunno." The other said, a younger lady named Francine. "But at least they're not waking up as part of some Vileblood's meal. Or their bath water." They laughed cruelly. Maria clenched her fists and stormed past them, heading towards the changing rooms.

She knew _exactly_ what they were talking about. And they knew that _she'd_ knew it was meant to hurt.

"Ignore her." Clint advised. "Trixie's just being a bitch. She's just jealous that she's not half the woman _you_ are."

"I'm not upset about her." She replied. "They are just words. They cannot hurt me."

"Glad to see you being all mature and all. But we could add some laxatives to her tea. Get her stuck on the toilet for an hour or two."

"There's no need. She's nothing." Clint shrugged, and pulled his jacket on.

"Alright. I guess it's your choice. See you next time Maria." She nodded, still changing her gear as he left. What she said was true; Trixie's words _didn't_ matter to her.

If she knew the things Maria had done… the things she had fought… she would fear her.

She smiled to herself, a sad smile, as she looked down at her blade. Rakuyo. A weapon made for monsters and beasts. A weapon from another world, another time.

A time where she was known… as Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower.

* * *

She sat alone in her chair, the massive room silent and still. Behind her was the clock face, silent as the grave. Time hasn't moved since she arrived. Time had no meaning in this nightmare. Only pain, suffering and loss. And she had lost so much.

It had seemed so innocent, so normal at the beginning. All they wanted was to learn, to know more about the world. And learn more about the labyrinth they found away from the city. There was nothing wrong with exploring, finding out what it was for and who made it. Surely there was no harm in _that_ , they said. They had searched, and searched, and searched; always writing down their findings. So simple; so normal.

But then one day, they came across something. Something that mocked their feeble rules and logic. A monster, a thing that was certainly _not_ _human._ And a vat of blood along with it. Blood that possessed unusual properties. And the moment they found it, their gaze turned from the labyrinth to themselves. To find a way to become greater than human. To push all of mankind to the cosmos and the power it contained.

But from that moment, fractures formed in the college. Master Willem believed that only through greater understanding will mankind rise, while others like Lawrence believed that the blood itself will change them, make them greater. Both sides argued over and over, with only her and her mentor Gehrman remaining objective. But they finally chose to side with Willem when word reached them of a creature, washed up on the shores of a fishing hamlet. A creature that matched the description of a god known as Kos, though some would say Kosm. The reports suggested that monsters roamed the town, killing anyone that approached. Desperate for the eyes that Kos granted, the eyes that allowed them to see beyond their mortal limitation, the two of them were sent to gather the eyes. By any means necessary.

Despite her misgivings, she obeyed. Everyone they found there, beasts and men alike, were killed for the eyes. Some were still of their own will, pleading for help. They did not falter; they cut them all down. And when they found Kos on the shore, as dead as the rumours said. Signs of damage and spears showed on her form; the town must've killed her in their ignorance. But most shockingly, they found a foetus. An unborn child, still within her. They brought it back, and the others immediately dissected it. A primal scream had echoed in her head, for just a moment.

She and Gehrman saw what the eyes did to people. They both decided that the blood was a better choice. It could heal any injury, cure any disease. Those who took it became stronger, faster and more durable. The two of them, along with Lawrence and Micolash, left Willem to his insanity. And Lawrence founded a church to spread the cure. It worked, for a time. But then they found someone who had taken the Blood. Someone whose body was twisted into a hideous beast.

The decision was clear; They needed to keep this secret. She and Gehrman started a workshop, dedicated to killing off the beasts. They recruited members to aid them, and they hunted the creatures at night. But the hunts didn't stop; if anything, they became more common, and lasted longer. A plague spread through the city, requiring more Blood to cure. But those cured were more likely to turn into beasts, until entire districts were turning. She and the others were forced to work in the open, fighting off beasts to save frightened citizens. And then she was called away, to lead the research hall. A place where the church worked to make humans become more than they once were. But all she could see were insane monsters. She couldn't convince the church to stop, so she was forced to merely settle for making the test subjects lives less horrific. To ease their suffering any way she could. She kept it up for as long as she could, always feeling at odds with herself. She began as a woman trying to make the world a better place, a more learned one. And somehow, somewhere along the way, she had helped hurt their own people. Unable to take this anymore, she started preparing to take her own life.

All it would take is one quick slash; her new blade was more than sharp enough. One slice, and it would be over. She was about to press the edge against her throat when she heard footsteps. Several of them.

She had guests. A lot of them. And they sounded angry. Perhaps they were somehow aware that she was about to end her life, and wanted to stop her. Perhaps they were the citizens, somehow aware of her sins. Perhaps even the Church decided she was a liability. It mattered not; if they were here to fight her, then she would kill them. Ten of them rushed into the room, wearing strange black armour and holding unusual guns. Perhaps they were The Choir's new hunters, acting as their lackeys and assassins. She did not care anymore. She stood up, blade at the ready.

"You may have come here for justice, and for that I do not fault you." She said softly. "But know that my death will be on my terms. Leave me to my fate. Return to your masters empty-handed." The hunters did not respond; they simply raised and fired their guns. She dashed to the side, slightly surprised to see them firing dozens of bullets at such quick speed. She dashed behind one, moving like air, before sliding her blade through his ribs. Their armour is far weaker than she expected it to be, and on closer inspection was made from some glossy material instead of metal. The hunters panicked as they twisted round, while she sliced the heads off two more hunters. The closest ones pulled out thin rods, extending them as they crackled with lightning. She ignored their flailing, dodging their strikes to cut them down. The last three ran away, trying to create space between them and her. She ran after one, cutting him down at the waist before stabbing her other blade through the second man.

That just left her and the female hunter. The hunter cast off her jacket, revealing heavily tattooed arms. She pressed her hands against her skin, and seemed to grab at tattoos shaped like daggers. Then she pulled them away, holding black daggers in her hands.

A new power discovered by the Healing Church? Some enhancement of the Old Blood? Then she _was_ enhanced. She _must_ be a Hunter. Then the Church sent her after all. They would likely experiment on her corpse, turning her into something worse. She gripped her blades tighter, and parried the thrown tattoos. The Church Hunter tossed out more and more designs; snarling tigers, giant hissing snakes, a crocodile and others. She cut them down with ease. Really now; these beasts would be no match to the monsters out there. At best, they would simply serve as a short distraction. Is this the best the Church could send against her?

She dashed in close, slicing her blade down across the Church Hunter's chest. As she bled profusely, Maria stabbed her hand into her chest, clenching her heart. A quick kiss on the cheek, and then she ripped it out. The Hunter fell over dead, a torrent of blood erupting. Maria could feel the blood healing her wounds.

But then there was the sound of clapping. Slow, mocking clapping. A woman stepped out of the shadows, wearing a form fitting dark suit and a brimmed hat. Long dark curls bloomed from under her hat. Maria gripped her blades, ready for a second fight.

"Calm yourself, Lady Maria." The woman said, raising her hands in a sign of non-violence. "I am not here to fight. I merely wish to talk."

"And yet you arrived quickly after I killed these Hunters." Maria noted. "Either you have impeccable timing, or you are a part of them."

"They and I work for the same people, yes. But I knew they wouldn't be able to beat you. We merely wanted to see if our intel on your skill was accurate. I am pleased to say that you performed admirably."

Maria frowned. "I do not appreciate being used as a test subject. I was in the process of repenting for my heinous actions. Leave me now, or perish."

The woman stepped closer. "It won't work. Killing yourself." She said. "You, Gehrman, and all Hunters after you two are cursed by your actions. When you die, you will enter a nightmare. One that will be impossible to leave. For now at least. There is meaning in life, and goals we need your help with."

Maria paused, and then lowered her weapons. "How do you know these things? Be your master Willem; have you taken the eyes?"

"I have not. But I have taken something very similar. It tells me things I need to know to complete my mission. And it tells me that you will not find repentance in your death." She waved a hand, and two more hunters stepped out of the shadows, carrying a strange box. "As for my master, perhaps it would be best to speak to her yourself." One of the soldiers tapped at something on the back of the box, and the front lit up with abnormal light. A bright white instead of the yellowish glow of the oil lamps. Curious, Maria stepped closer, still ready for battle. This could be some kind of lure, a means of tricking her into lowering her guard. The glass changed colours, until there was a woman inside. A dark-skinned woman with long dark hair tied back. Maria blinked and stepped back in surprise.

"Are you a phantom trapped in a cage?" She asked, genuinely interested. "Do you seek a physical form?"

"No. I do not seek a body, nor am I a ghost." The woman replied sharply. "This is simply technology from our world; it may be more advanced that what you have available, but it is not magic in nature. I am speaking to you from our base, the location I won't mention." Maria puzzled over those words. This woman was alive, yet not in the room? Was this really technology? It sounded unlikely; technology couldn't pass images through thin air. "Contessa. Was the fight as you expected?"

"It was, Doctor." The other woman in the suit replied. "Lady Maria performed admirably.

"Good. Then I shall be brief. Lady Maria, we require your aid in protecting all of mankind. A dangerous foe threatens us, and we need all the help we can acquire."

Maria answered with a thin smile. "Brief, yet to the point where all knowledge is lost. You shall have to explain in depth before I agree to anything. The nature of your foe and what its plans are would suffice."

"Of course. I only spoke briefly to gain your attention. And to prove that we are not here to kill you. Quite the opposite, in fact. Our plans require you _alive_." The Doctor raised her hand, a small box between her fingers. She pressed a button on it, and the image changed suddenly. It showed a man made of gold, wearing a short, revealing suit of white. "This is Scion, a hero from our world. He flies around the world at incredible speed, helping out any crisis he comes across. He asks nothing in return, demands no glory or anything. While we don't know _why_ he's helping people, we _do_ know that he is nothing like he presents himself. He actually desires nothing less than the destruction of mankind." The screen changed again, showing moving pictures. They showed two individuals, wearing bright colours and formfitting clothing in the midst of battle. One was firing flames from his hands, while the other vanished and reappeared elsewhere. "Scion and his spouse create shards of themselves in a process of reproduction. These shards link up with people facing great trauma, and grant them powers considered by the world to be impossible. People use these powers to help make the world a better place, or to destroy as much as possible. But the real reason the shards link with people is to give us the means and motives to mutually destroy ourselves. Once all humans are dead, the shards return to Scion and Eden, where they undergo a process that turns them into a newborn." The image changed again, showing the world. Or rather, _a_ world. It did not match the maps she was familiar with. Then the image grew smaller, revealing it to be surrounded by worlds almost exactly the same. "Your world is not alone. There are other Earths, most populated by humans and yet different from each other. Scion's reproduction requires all these worlds rendered barren."

"You mean that he will go to all worlds and unleash these… shards, until all of mankind has been destroyed. Eventually, he will find his way here."

"Precisely." The image changed back to the Doctor. "I founded a clandestine organisation dedicated to stopping this from happening. To this end, I am recruiting individuals to help us in our goals. Contessa's powers conclude that you will be of great use to this."

Something that wasn't truly human, with morals beyond their understanding; threatening their way of life, and twisting them into monsters. It sounds so familiar.

"Is he a Great One?" She asked.

"We are not completely certain. There may be some overlap between him and your Great Ones."

"If there is a chance, then I believe it is my duty to help stop him. We cannot let ourselves be ended like this. My blade will strike him down." She flourished her weapons.

"Scion can't be killed by a blade, no matter how skilled the wielder is. He creates a wave effect that nullifies any attack or defence derived from his shards. And he himself is immune to simple weapons."

Maria was confused. "If weapons cannot slay him, then why do you require my aid?"

"Scion is not the only threat we face. Just our end goal. Our world faces other threats that also threaten our lives. And those threats also affect our plans whenever they kill one of our potential assets." The Doctor explained. "Because the shards are drawn by trauma, most of those with powers use them for crime and selfish goals. We require individuals like yourself to deal with these villains, thereby leaving our resources free to deal with Scion."

"So I am to hunt down beasts so that you can keep your attention on this Scion." Maria summed up.

"It means you can do some good." Contessa said. "Scion threatens _all_ worlds. Yours included. And would saving innocents not be adequate repentance for what you did under the Healing Church and the College?"

"Not adequate enough." She replied. "But I fear that my soul could not rest, knowing that I refused to help end this new nightmare." She holstered her blades. "Very well then. For the time being, we have an accord. My sword shall fight in your service."

The Doctor nodded. "Thank you for seeing reason. Contessa, make sure Lady Maria is up to date with our world. People will notice if she acts slack-jawed around every street light." And then the box went dark, its light snuffed out.

Contessa stepped towards her, hand extended. Come along, Lady Maria. We have much to show you."

* * *

It had been… harrowing, learning how different their worlds were. Not in terms of monsters or any real threats; but in the difference in technological capabilities. Things that people took for granted were magic to her; cars, cellphones, television, computers, airplanes. Sometimes she would wake up and think she was in some eldritch dream.

Most of the time though, she was going from one nightmare to another.

The Blood Starved Beast shrieked as it charged towards her, blood splattering everywhere as it moved. She rolled away from it and it slammed into the wall behind her, dazing it enough for her to slash away at it with ease. She hacked off a limb and it screamed, rising up on its back legs. She holstered one blade and pulled out a rifle, firing a shot of blood pellets and mercury into its skull. It fell over, and she climbed up on top before shoving her fist through its neck. She ripped out the spinal bones in a shower of blood, and it bled to death. A second growling warned her of the _other_ Blood Starved Beast, charging for its fallen comrade. She jumped off, and it lapped up the blood flowing from the Beast corpse. It was so hell-bent on draining every last drop, she managed to carve its back apart before it even deigned to fight back. And by then, it was nearly dead. A quick jump, a swing of her combined blade… and its head fell to the ground, followed by its body. She took a deep breath, the fighting now over.

 _KNOCK, KNOCK. KNOCK, KNOCK._

The sound echoed throughout the church grounds, the world going deathly silent after each knock. She had been in her enough times to know what that meant. She needed to hurry. She needed to find shelter. She needed to find the Hunter's Dream. Where were the Messengers? They had to be…

A cooing sound stopped her in her tracks. There, in an alley, three messengers held a lamp aloft. The Gatekeepers. Aware of the passing time, she ran towards them, hand reaching for the torch as the knocks continued. As her fingers touched the lamp, the world went dark…

She gasped, trying to work out where she was. She was… in a bed, a very fluffy cover tangled around her body. Clocks ticked away, and a strange black rectangle sat by her bed on a table…

The real world. She was awake. She was pretending to be Maria Cainhurst, a PRT Officer fighting against the parahumans threatening Brockton Bay. It all came back to her. She sighed and slumped back in bed.

 _Knock, knock, knock, knock._ The banging was insistent.

"Coming!" She called out loudly, hoping her uninvited guest could hear her. She got out of bed, smoothing her nightgown and throwing a dressing gown on top. Another thing she had to get used to was this world's differing sense of modesty. Here, it was perfectly normal for men to see a woman's ankles. And her legs. And her arms. And even her stomach.

It was shocked her how women could go out wearing as little as they can get away with, and yet still be considered decent.

She opened the door harshly, ready to complain to whoever was on the other side. And she stopped, recognising her guest.

"Clint." She said in surprise, before getting upset. "What are you doing here? How did you even know where I lived?"

Clint shook his head. "That's not important Maria. We've got a big problem." He sounded worried. She frowned, wrapping her gown more tightly around herself.

"Parahuman?"

"ABB. Their newest member, Bakuda, has gone crazy. She's stockpiled as many explosives as she can, and she's apparently got even more set up around town. Big places. Schools, malls, apartments, train stations… anywhere there would be lots of civilian casualties. Management wants all PRT agents out there disabling them, before the ABB starts blowing the Bay sky high."

She nodded, understanding. "Let me get dressed first. Then we'll go hunting."

* * *

They had to scour most of the city, dealing with ABB attacks and looting. They put up resistance, but after dealing with _real_ monsters, mere men were no threat to someone of her skill. Yet they remained tense throughout the whole mission, worried that at some point, those bombs were going to go off. She had read stories about Tinker bombs; they were greater than any beast could hope to be.

It was only after they had confirmed that the PRT had seized every last bomb that she could breathe a sigh of relief. And find out how this had all started. Fortunately, Captain Griffin had similar thoughts.

"Alright team, pay attention." He called out, standing before them in the briefing room. "Now, for a lot of you, the first thing you woke up to was a general order to move out and deal with this bomb threat. You wouldn't have had time to get up to date with the latest power struggles. Luckily for you, this meeting is to inform you of all that's happened in the last 24 hours."

Maria raised her hand. "How did we come to learn about these bombs?" She asked. The kind of intel they received was too informed to be a mere call-in. The ABB must've had a spy on the inside.

"I'll get there in a minute Cainhurst. Let me just get started first." Griffin cleared his throat. "Now then; at around 0800 yesterday, we received several calls from concerned citizens saying that they saw ABB members dragging Asian civilians from their homes. As far as we could tell from the calls, they were recruiting everyone they had left alone the first time. The elderly, school kids, and anyone who paid protection money. We started trying to find out where they were being taken, but we didn't have much hope of finding out soon."

"But then at about 1900 hours that night, we got more calls. There was a battle happening over at the docks. Lots of explosions. We went out there to investigate and possibly intervene, but by the time we arrived the fighting was over. And we found nearly all the missing civilians. They told us that the parahuman Bakuda had surgically installed bombs into their bodies, and made it very clear she wasn't afraid of using them whenever she felt like it."

"Jesus." Someone muttered in shock.

Griffin nodded. "At least we didn't have to worry about them detonating anytime soon. Bakuda was killed in the fight." He pressed a button on his remote, and the wall behind him had images projected on it. A minor villain team known as the Undersiders. And a man in black armour. "Apparently, the rumours that villains took down Lung were correct. Or at least Bakuda believed them enough to act on them. As the main targets of the ABB when Lung was brought down, they were her first suspects. The fight was an attempt to get revenge. Unfortunately for Bakuda though, the Undersiders were with a _new_ villain. A powerful threat tentatively known as The Masked Man."

"Hold on." Jackie interrupted, stepping forward. "You mean the guy who took down the Wards practically by _himself_? _That_ guy?"

Griffin nodded. "We put him as at least a Shifter 4, Brute 6, Mover 2, and Shaker 3. And according to eye-witnesses, he can somehow absorb people through tentacles. That's how he killed Bakuda. _While_ somehow keeping her heart alive enough to not trigger a dead man's switch."

"Two hours later, we got a call from an anonymous source about the bombs Bakuda had around the city. He told us everything we needed to know about them. Their locations, how to disarm them, what traps were waiting for us; everything."

"So… We've dealt with them." Someone said. "The ABB's leaders are down, their men are being arrested, and their bombs are gone. We won."

"I wish. Around the time of the battle between the ABB and the Undersiders, Oni Lee was breaking Lung out of his cell. They both got away, and Lung's intimidated enough of his men back into line. A gang war is coming people; we have to be ready for it." He gave a curt nod. "Revise your training for this people. I want everyone ready to react when we get the call. Dismissed."

Everyone started filing out, talking amongst each other. But Maria stayed where she was, watching the images of the Masked Man. He seemed so inhuman in that armour, his plating looking more organic than metal. And his ability to eat people with his tendrils…

Was this man something from her world? A beast, perhaps? Or did this mean that _other_ _places_ had also attempted to contact the Great Ones?

* * *

She panted as she ran through the water-swept streets, rain thundering down on her like bullets. Her clothes were soaked through, her sword hanging limply in her hand. Behind her, before her, all around her the world shook and crumbled.

She wasn't running into the fight. She had read the reports, and knew even she couldn't hope to best this foe. She was running _away_ from it. She was running for her team.

"Griffin!" She shouted, struggling to be heard over the fighting. "Clint! Sandra!" She ran further ahead, hoping to see some sign of them.

They had been helping escort people to the nearest shelter when Leviathan arrived, bringing a massive wave that tore down buildings. She had come to with a spluttering start, far away from where they started from. Around her had been a dozen bodies; the civilians they had been helping. Every one of them had been crushed by the force, some missing limbs where they had been sheared off from collisions. Seeing them brought back flashes of when people in Yharnam turned into beasts, and ran wild amongst the townsfolk. The same kind of devastation, the same kind of damage caused. She could do nothing for them now. So she focused on the mission. Protect the civilians. Get them to safety. Find shelter.

But first, she had to find her team. She had to find what happened to them.

"Griffin!" She shouted again. "Clint!" Her radio had been broken. If only it had stayed dry, stayed intact. She could've called them, arranged a meeting place. Instead, she was running around like a lunatic, one step away from dying. She stumbled as the ground rumbled, falling over. The line of buildings before her exploded, shattering into rubble as something big smashed through them.

She looked up, certain that Leviathan had found her. Instead, something else was getting back up. A monster of similar size, but completely different. It was a fleshy red, with a massive arm and a gorilla-like body. Gnashing teeth clashed as it roared, scales growing over it as it grew even larger.

And then it exploded into dust, the water turning grey as it settled. A roar further away made her turn. The thing was on top of a building, the frame cracking under its mass. It exploded into dust again, reappearing elsewhere.

Another Endbringer. One they had never seen before. Of all the luck, they get attacked by two _at once_. This must have something to do with the Great Ones. A curse upon her for meddling with them. And everyone else was going to pay for her sins.

She was losing focus, losing her direction. Let the other parahumans deal with those two; she needed to find her team.

"Sandra! Clint!" She shouted again, hoping beyond hope to hear a response.

All she could hear was the sound of fighting.

She was lost in a land of destruction.

* * *

Out of the four of them, only she and Clint escaped mostly unscathed. Griffin had lost an arm during the fighting, nearly lost his life from infection from the dirty water.

Sandra didn't make it. They found her flattened against a building.

But hardly anyone cared. They were all happy that they even survived. That other Endbringer fought on _their_ side, fending off Leviathan until he ran. It was being treated like a hero.

But that didn't mean the city escaped without damage. It was like a natural disaster. Half of the city was without power, and criminals started taking over. The PRT and the Capes were holding onto city hall, but only just.

There was only one side profiteering off the chaos. The villains.

The Undersiders now control entire sections of the city, lording over them like… like feudal lords. Blacklight wiped out the Merchants, and took over their territory. Started improving it, making it a safe haven.

Maybe she had been mistaken about him. Maybe he _wasn't_ someone who had found out about the Great Ones, and somehow made contact. Maybe, he was actually one of them. A being completely alien to them, his morality different from their own. The Great Ones often both cursed and helped the people of Yharnam. This could very well be the same thing. To Blacklight, killing people and building them a home could very well mean the same.

But she couldn't dwell on such thoughts too long. They had a patrol next. Keeping an eye on Hookwolf and the Fenrir's Chosen.

Fun times.

"…And we've still got a dozen missing people from the Slaughterhouse Nine attack." Captain Griffin was saying. The three of them were looking over a map of the city, territories marked along with sightings of the Nine. "If I'm being honest, I'd say that they're all deceased. They don't normally take prisoners, thank God."

"But they _do_ like to torture and mutilate people." Clint responded. "For all we know, these people could still be alive and in constant agony. If that were me, I'd want someone to find me; if only to put me out of my misery."

"The families would get some closure." Maria agreed.

Griffin sighed, rubbing his prosthetic. "I know. That's why we're still looking for them. I just feel like they're long gone by now." He pointed at the map. "We'll have another check near Mount Olympus; that's around the last place the Nine were seen before Blacklight killed them off. After that, we'll try going…" He stopped as the room rumbled, the air rent by the sound of a massive explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Clint asked in shock. They all ran out of the room, following everyone else outside. In the sky was a massive mushroom cloud, the standard sign of an explosion with incredible power.

And it was coming from Mount Olympus.

"What the fuck…?" Clint breathed. Griffin and Maria were too shocked to speak.

Everyone who had moved to Mount Olympus – hundreds of people – gone. Just gone in an instant.

But who did this? And what if they strike again?

Griffin bumped her shoulder. "Look." He said. She turned in his direction, and saw capes approaching. Alexandria was at the head of the group. Held between all the capes was the slight figure of Athena, Blacklight's right-hand woman.

But if they held her here right now, only moments after Mount Olympus was destroyed, then that meant…

"Holy fuck." Someone else muttered. "They blew it. They blew it straight to hell."

"What were they thinking? There were civilians in there." Another said. But most were silent, still trying to understand. Understand how things got so bad that hundreds were considered collateral damage to stopping a villain.

Maria pressed a hand to her breast. Memories threatened to overwhelm her. Once again, she had joined an organisation that lost sight of their noble goals. Changed from protectors to monsters. The latest reports of Mount Olympus had said that everyone was healthy, human, and happy. There was no justification to kill them all off. And even if there was some reason, this was too much.

Never again, she swore. She would never again justify mass murder.

* * *

A large beast roared in her face, and moved to crush her beneath its fists. She simply side stepped it and sliced its head off, before carving off one arm. As it fell to the ground, another monster took its place. This one was more human, some kind of… undead. She took it down just as easily, slicing it apart like it wasn't even there.

Blacklight _and_ Mount Olympus somehow managed to survive. And he sought revenge for the attack on him. These creatures were his weapons, his soldiers. They just kept coming, ignoring self-preservation in an effort to kill as many of them as possible.

To the others – the parahumans and PRT Officers – this was hell on Earth. To her though, a seasoned Hunter…

This was just another hunt.

She rolled away as a giant beast charged her, passing safely underneath it before cutting a line down its chest. The beast skidded to a halt, knocking someone away with its mass before picking up its fellow's severed arm and devouring it. The cut on its chest healed, and it looked angrier. It started running towards her, arms flailing and gouging the ground.

Once again, she ducked within its reach and sliced it apart, bursting out the other side. Its roar petered out, and it fell to the ground. Tendrils snaked out and around the other corpse, but she turned back and jabbed her blade into its skull, slicing downwards until it was split in two.

The lull in battle gave her time to assess the situation. It wasn't looking good. Though the heroes around her had incredible powers able to match or beat the beasts, they weren't as well-versed in the art of avoiding attacks. She watched as one hero near her was grabbed by one beast, and ripped in two lengthways. High above, the flying Endbringer rained more monsters down upon them, even as it fought back against their aerial attacks. And in the middle of all this, was Blacklight himself. Decked out in his armour, tearing through everything in his path. And here, she saw more proof that he was likely a Great One. She had seen him blasted with enough force to tear him to shreds, and yet he appeared elsewhere. As he watched, a PRT Officer threw a bomb. One of the bombs collected from the ABB. Blacklight was immediately turned into glass, black as obsidian. But nearby, one of the beasts got up on hind legs, and changed shapes until it became Blacklight again. A tentacle lashed out, and the officer was sliced apart.

This was not going in their favour. As expected when mere mortals anger things from beyond their world. A sixth sense had her lash out with her blade, cutting an undead in half. But more of them surrounded her; undead and beasts alike. Too many for even her to handle as she was.

Though it filled her with bile, she had to turn to the blood arts. She had to use her family's legacy to survive.

Shaking off her blades, she stabbed them both into her chest. Pain momentarily shook her, and blood covered the blades completely. As the first row of undead approached, she pulled the blades free and spun on the spot. The blood sprayed outwards, slicing through them with ease. They all fell over in pieces, black and red blood spraying everywhere. The next line moved in to try and overwhelm her, but she merely snapped her blades together, pulled them back, and thrusted forward. A lance of blood speared through them, clearing her a path. She cartwheeled through the opening, blades spinning and slicing the arms that reached out for her. Once she was round the other side, she spun around and slashed them with blood. The front line was carved up and blasted back, slamming into the ones behind them. She readied herself for their retaliation attacks.

But then, they stopped. They stepped away from her, limiting themselves to growling. In fact, all around her the beasts and undead were backing away. The remaining heroes and officers looked around in confusion.

"This is your _only_ warning." Blacklight said, his voice magnified. "Brockton Bay is no longer welcome to heroes. I'm in charge around here now, and I will never again tolerate your attacks on me or my people. You can either leave, stop using your powers, or die. I don't give a fuck which. But by tomorrow, Brockton Bay _will_ be free of anyone who's part of the PRT, Wards, or Protectorate. If I catch anyone disobeying this simple rule, I _will_ have them killed. There will be no mercy, no second chances, no negotiation. We see you, we kill you. Tell the world that Brockton Bay belongs to Zeus and his Pantheon."

Athena stepped forward, her cheek bruised. Beside her was a younger woman. "You can collect your dead and injured, give them treatment. And you can also move your families out. I'm sure your bosses have some way of covering your moving costs. Anyone who wants to leave can do so. We won't force them to stay. But since Zeus isn't afraid to kill criminals, Brockton Bay could probably end up one of the safest cities on the planet."

"Like I said; you've got till tomorrow to decide. If you're going to stay in hospital, then I'd better not hear of any fucking powers from any of you." As if to emphasise his threat, Alexandria fell from the sky and landed near them. Everyone nearby jumped from the impact, dust billowing outwards. Blacklight strolled over to her, grabbing her by her suit and hoisting her up. The monsters followed him, heading towards the worm-like creature under his command. They all headed inside, and then it tunnelled away back to Mount Olympus.

"…Holy fuck." Someone gasped in shock.

* * *

In the end, her choice was rather simple.

She wouldn't keep working for the PRT, despite what Doctor Mother ordered her to do. She refused to continue working for people who would justify the _possibility_ that the people in Mount Olympus were infected. She saw the kind of hysteria that could cause; the hunts and executions. She didn't want to be a part of that back home, and she wouldn't be a part of it here. But she couldn't just ignore Blacklight – or Zeus, as he's calling himself. Even if he saw his goals as noble, his limited understanding of humanity could cause him to damage the very people he swore to protect. Someone had to stay and keep an eye on them; to step in when the beasts ran wild.

She was a Hunter. This was her duty. She had to stay, despite his orders.

Hopefully, as long as she didn't use her blood again, he wouldn't care about her. After all, all she really had was her speed and skill. And most of the time, that was more than enough.

And so here she was. Decked out in her Hunter's uniform, patrolling the streets. They were quiet right now, everyone staying home. People were still undecided on whether or not Zeus meant what he said. Whether he was here to protect them or to be a dictator. And others were waiting for the power struggles to end. Several villains came in from out of town, believing that they could usurp Zeus and take the city for themselves.

From where she was standing, she heard the sound of screams. A roar of a beast. And the smashing of metal. She ran as fast as she could, ready to destroy this new threat. She rounded a corner to see a tall man standing over a shredded corpse. She couldn't even tell whether it was a man or a woman, such was the damage. One of the villain's hands was a giant black claw. He turned slightly, and spotted her standing there. His face was hidden behind a wolf mask with massive teeth.

"Another straggler?" He said, his voice distorted. "Unless you're secretly Zeus or one of his Pantheon freaks, clear the fuck out before I gut you alive. I've got bigger fish to fry than some stupid whore thinking she's some fucking hero."

"Who says I _think_ I'm a hero?" She replied, grabbing the hilt of her blades. She dashed towards him, blades pulling free. He lifted up his clawed hand in time, catching one blade. But then she slashed him across the chest with the other, bleeding him. He knocked her sword away, but she dashed back before he could strike her.

She smiled. This was even more like fighting a beast back home. No doubt he'll soon show he has some 'ultimate form' that's simply a bigger, nastier beast.

"You _bitch_!" He roared, charging towards her with both arms now clawed. She parried his attacks with ease, slicing one arm before shoving her hand into his chest. Some pressure forced her hand out before she could grab anything, and shadows filled the wound. "You think you're a fucking match for _me_?! I am Shadow Wolf! And as soon as I'm done eating your corpse, I'm going to _kill_ Zeus and take over this shithole!" Shadows covered his skin and spread outwards, until a giant black wolfman stood before her. Saliva dripped from his teeth, and he roared in her face, revealing dozens of curved fangs.

She simply yawned at him. How pedestrian. The technology of this world was more frightening to her than this fool. Angered by her boredom, Shadow Wolf dashed towards her at incredible speed, one hand raised to crush her. She simply rolled around him and slashed at his arm, both swords enough to slice it off. Roaring in pain and fury, he turned towards her and tried again, shadows leaking from his wound. He moved quickly, forcing her back step by step. But she vanished behind him, cutting his tendons and forcing him to the ground. Roaring angrily, he started swinging his arm wildly. She removed it just as easily, leaving him wounded and defenceless. Then she rammed her hand through his back, fingers tightening around his heart. One tug, and she ripped it free. The shadows faded, revealing Shadow Wolf covered in blood as he fell to the ground. She flicked her bloody hand, trying to get most of the blood off. Then she flicked her swords before holstering them, turning away.

And found the Pantheon standing behind her.

Apollo – one of the first of the Pantheon seen – stepped forward, giving her a shallow bow. "That was very well done." He said. "It appears that your skill was not some mere fluke."

"About fucking time she showed up." Hermes muttered. "Don't know why Zeus gives such a crap about her though."

"You… were looking for me?" She asked, hand still on her hilt. She needed to be ready in case they were here to kill her.

"Of course." Apollo said. "Despite all the parahumans here earlier this week, you were surviving amazingly well. Dozens of Hunters and Infected, and you managed to survive without even a scratch. And he was rather intrigued by your ability to use your blood to aid yourself." He held out a hand to her. "We are here to offer you a place with us."

Maria paused. This… wasn't exactly what she wanted. She wanted to watch Zeus from afar, not be within range of his fury. But she could hear the unspoken threat. 'Join, or we will be forced to kill you for breaking the rules'. And wouldn't being _in_ Mount Olympus give her a better understanding of their Great One, and keep a better eye on them. No more waiting outside, wondering what was happening in their halls. Now she could be more aware of their plans.

"I shall accept." She finally said. "But I do not require nor want the gifts of your Great One. I desire to remain human until my death." She heard Hermes snort in derision. Apollo looked at her and shrugged.

"Very well then. We have several other members that are still human. Come with us; we will take you to Mount Olympus so you can be introduced to everyone." He whistled, and a beast – a Hunter, he called it – jumped down from a rooftop. Its back shifted and molded until it resembled a saddle. She climbed on board and held on, the Hunter jumping high into the air and landing on a roof. And then jumped to the next.

Well; she was a part of the Pantheon. Now she just had to hope that her sins and her past did not curse her once more.

* * *

 **And there we go. Finally got it all written.**

 **As I was writing this, I kinda felt that Alex could appear to be like a Great One to Maria. The inhuman abilities, the weird morality, the ability to turn others into monsters and super-powered people… It just seemed very much like what Mergo and Kos (though some say Kosm – sorry for throwing that meme in constantly) and Ebrietas and The Moon Presence do.**

 **I've decided that the next Aftermath chapter is going to be focused on the villains and 'villains' of Brockton Bay. How they handle Alex's new rules. It shouldn't take too long to write that out (he says hopefully) and I should have it ready next month. Some of you guys had briliiant ideas, but I'm going to save some of them for after the Aftermaths. Already planning on having the fight between Saint and Dragon happen later.**

 **And before anyone says anything, yes I copied paragraphs out of the old chapter and slapped them in. I thought they were well written, and I could reuse them.**


	18. Aftermath - Villains

**I'm glad I could get this done** _ **much**_ **faster than last time. And I'm also glad to hear the people enjoyed the new chapter more.**

 **As you can tell from the name, this chapter is all about the villains of Brockton Bay. The main ones at least.**

 **Can't think of anything else to say, so on with the story. Time to see how the villains react.**

* * *

 **Chapter 18: Aftermath – Villains**

 _ **(Coil)**_

It was the dead of night in Brockton Bay. Nearly everyone was indoors, sleeping away or watching those 24/7 news channels, watching as the world started crumbling around them. Most of them pointedly ignored the subtle sounds of claws on rooftops, of the beasts and monsters roaming the city. Plenty of the households the Infected crossed over were silent as the grave, their occupants having ran as soon as they could. The entire city was caught between the promise of safety, and the fear of their protectors.

But Coil didn't care or notice any of that. He was busy watching his computer screen.

Tonight was the perfect night. It was a new moon, making it dark enough that it was almost impossible to see anything in the night sky. Clouds blanketed the entire city, blotting out the stars. No one would be looking upwards; no one would see his machinations. In one corner of his screen, a tiny box showed a round case inside a metal room, everything shaded in various shades of green. But most of the screen was dominated by a map of the local area… And a dotted line passing over Brockton Bay.

More specifically, Mount Olympus.

As the dot of the plane grew closer and closer, he ran through his checklist again. He didn't want to be unprepared for in case he needed to start running. What he was about to do was foolish and dangerous. But he _must_ do it. He _had_ to. He pointedly ignored the slumbering shape sitting next to him, tapping his foot as he waited. Closer… closer…

On the smaller screen, something started blinking. The room shook suddenly, the camera skewing. The bay doors opened up, revealing a dull green portal. And then he was looking at sky, and the city below.

He glanced at the big screen. They released it exactly on the dot. At the current pace, the bomb would strike Mount Olympus in a matter of minutes.

But then his screen was filled with… something. Something winged, something leathery. A snouted head glared at the camera, a third arm slashing open the casing around it. The creature started worming its way inside, pulling out wires and components.

He disconnected the camera, detonated the bomb early. Without any signals to work with, without any debris to study, there should be no way Zeus could…

The proximity alert sounded. The ground started shaking and rumbling, getting worse with every second.

Fate was a cruel mistress.

He turned to the sleeping figure next to him, making sure he _appeared_ to be busy working on the computer. He moved the helmeted head to make it look a little more natural. The black helmet with the white serpent head flopped to the desk.

A body double, chosen from the mercenaries he had hired. Someone of similar body shape to him who could pass for his disguised self for a moment. With that done, he ran out of his office towards Dinah's quarters. Grabbed the sleeping girl without pause. And headed for the secret exit he had installed.

Behind him, the building shook as something large smashed through it. The other soldiers started shouting and screaming as the fighting started.

He ran down the passageway, taking the stairs two at a time, until he reached an idling car waiting for them. He threw Dinah into the car, jumped into the driver's seat, and floored it.

Fortunately for them – and mostly him – the garage doors had been modified specifically for if he couldn't wait for them to open in time. The car smashed through them with barely a scratch, the tires screeching as they tried to grip the road. He shot off like a bullet down the road, racing away from his lair.

Once he thought he was far enough, he triggered the remote he had on his person. The car swerved as the ground shook, a cloud of dust erupting out of the garage he vacated. It was a good thing he had a self-destruct switch installed. It was useful for wiping out those attacking your base.

A slight click made him jump, but it was just Dinah readying her seatbelt. She gave him a stern, mocking look. "You know that won't work." She said simply. "You died the moment you gave the order for the bomb. Zeus is coming for you." From any other child, it would've sounded like petulant boasting. From her though… it terrified him.

"He can try." He replied stiffly. "But by the time he realises that we didn't die in the explosion, you and I will be long…" The world erupted in squeals and shrieks, as something heavy landed on the back of the car. The front leaped upwards before bouncing, the car swerving slightly as it came to a halt. Dinah was pushed forward by the change in motion, saved only by her seatbelt.

Coil wasn't so lucky. He opened bleary eyes to a world of hissing and creaking. His body was slow to respond, even at the sound of the roof being ripped open. He did at least manage to look up, just in time to see Zeus standing over them.

The monster didn't say a word. He simply slammed his fist through Coil's chest.

* * *

Coil opened his eyes for a moment before closing them again, sighing and wiping at his sweaty forehead. With his demise in that reality, it collapsed back into this one.

The one where he _didn't_ make yet another attempt of Blacklight's life.

This mess was his fault. He thought he could've controlled Blacklight. He brought him in mistaking him for a simple brute he could direct. That he could control him with offers of money. He should've seen the signs the _moment_ Blacklight threatened him to release Dinah. He had held him off with lies, but he should've realised that it was only a temporary measure. But no. He decided to keep him around; working under the theory that it was better to keep him close than let someone else hire someone of his strength. And now, his carefully laid plans – plans years in the making and that cost him tens of thousands of dollars – were completely shattered.

 _Zeus_ ruled the city now. Not him. And there was no way he could take the city back. Unless…

His screen lit up, a tinny ringing coming from his speakers. A flashing 'C' appeared in the corner of his screen. Speak of the Devil, and she shall appear. Wiping his face and putting his mask back on, he made sure he had a pose of calmness and control before clicking the symbol. The locks on his door shuttered automatically, and his room was swept for bugs. Only then did the call finally get put through. His screen popped up a video, showing Doctor Mother, Contessa, and the Number Man sitting around a table.

Underneath his mask, he smiled. "Doctor Mother. What a pleasant surprise. I was just thinking of calling you about a problem I have encountered." He said smoothly.

"You are referring to Zeus and his takeover of the city." She replied. She was never a fan of pleasantries. It was always to the point when she could.

"Naturally. I have used my powers and my own resources to attempt to wrest control back from the city, but I'm afraid it won't ever be enough. But I'm certain that with your assistance, we could ensure…"

"No." She interrupted him. "We've already seen what he is capable when we make attempts on his life. Our work was nearly undone in a matter of hours. We will _not_ make the same mistake a second time."

Contessa spoke up. "My power informed me that he is already organising safe houses for his biomass. Locations in places we can't easily access that he could regenerate from in the event that we successfully destroy his current body. Even with the powers we have at our disposal, we have very little means of destroying them all before he retaliates." She gave him a solid look. "He is already one of the most dangerous individuals on Earth Bet. Imagine how much worse he could become if he gains Eidolon's power. Or finds a way to add Alexandria to his collection."

His mouth became dry. "So the reports _are_ true then. He somehow defeated her." He had hoped that the media had simply been… overzealous. "I thought her invulnerability extended to her cells. That she was immune to diseases."

"She is." Doctor Mother took over. "But tests have shown that she is as susceptible to drowning as any other human. Leviathan has tried countless times to drown her whenever he attacks. No doubt Zeus used his fluid nature to clog up her lungs, and cause irreparable brain damage."

"So she's still as invulnerable as before. She just can't make any rational thought to use it."

"Correct. But it shouldn't be hard to dissect her. Remember, Siberian was the only parahuman able to injure her, and Zeus has his power at his disposal."

Coil took a deep breath. This conversation wasn't going the way he wanted. "So, we can't launch a strike against him, and I cannot convince him that I _need_ my Seer. What do you propose we _do_ then?"

"I thought it would've been rather obvious, Coil." Doctor Mother said bluntly. "Release Dinah Alcott to him."

"Release her!? But… she is integral to my plans!" He argued. "Her powers perfectly complement my own. With her, I can increase my plan's likelihood of success by at least 40 percent. I can figure out through trial and error what is likely to work and what isn't. I can refine my plans. Surely her aid is too valuable to give up. And if I do as he says, what's to stop him from taking the city from us?"

"Simple. We plan on forming an alliance with him." Coil looked at her in shock. "Often, our plans are damaged by the fact that those with the powers we want tend to become threats to the world, and thus need to be killed off. Therefore, we lose access to those powers. But with Zeus working alongside us, we can simply send him or his agents in to recover those powers, and possibly grant them to others. In return, we can use his protective nature for his sibling to get him to agree with our goals. I'm sure a promise to divert attention away from her should convince him that we would mutually benefit each other."

Coil gulped. "And… And what of me? Am I to be reduced to his lackey? To a spy, keeping an eye on him?"

"That won't be necessary. By sheer happenstance, another agent managed to join the Pantheon without us ordering her to do so. We already have eyes within their organisation. What we need now is a way to ensure that world stability is maintained. And that means taking control of the villains making power plays outside Mount Olympus."

He understood what she was implying. "You're moving my operations." His mouth tasted like bile. "All the effort we put into gaining a foothold, and we're just throwing it away."

"Careful, Coil." Contessa said sternly. "You only have your powers and your future because of our aid. Don't make us regret it."

"We will compensate your losses for moving your operations." The Number Man stated. "Other cities will be prime pickings for you. The heroes are too understaffed to maintain complete control over their cities, and the gangs are busy fighting each other for supremacy. A quick strike at key targets will allow you to gain a foothold and dig in. From there, subtle manipulation will tear your rivals apart, and the heroes will be too busy to keep a defence up against you. It may take several years, but you have a high chance of taking over a city from the shadows completely."

"It would go much faster if I could leave with Dinah." Coil replied. "Let me keep her, and I could have three cities under our control in the time it would've taken me to get one of them."

"Perhaps. But would she last that long?" Doctor Mother asked him. "We've seen the reports about her. Mr Pitter's reports are very thorough. We know about the drugs you've gotten her addicted to. Prolonged use of them could cause her to burn out, and render her useless to our goals. At her current rate of use, she will be nothing more than a shell by the time she's twenty."

"We don't need her personality. As long as she can continue to use her powers, everything else is unnecessary." Doctor Mother, Contessa and Number Man glanced at each other. Beneath his mask, he was smiling. He was getting to them. He was convincing them. Just a little bit more, and he would have them see things _his_ way. Dinah was too important to hand back over to her family.

A second alarm started beeping. Cursing to himself, he clicked on it. A second screen, linked to a camera, showed his men crowding around the front door. It opened to reveal Zeus stepping in. Alone.

No. Not alone. The Travellers were behind him. Blast them; they must've seen him about Noelle. Once Mercer finds a way to fix her – and there's no doubt he'll find _something_ – His excuse will crumble. He glanced back at Cauldron.

The three of them were glancing at their own screens. Of course they somehow got access to his cameras. Probably the same way they locked his doors and swept his room for bugs. The three of them looked at him, expressions serious.

"Very well then." Doctor Mother said. "If you can convince Zeus to let you leave Mount Olympus with Dinah Alcott, then you can keep her. But remember; we will not be able to help you, nor will we make any moves against him. If he desires your death, then it is up to _you_ to find a way to escape him."

"Understood." He growled, closing the screen. The doors unlocked, and he was left alone with his thoughts. His powers wouldn't be as effective here. Not like they could've been. But they were his greatest weapon. He _had_ to use them, no matter how little they would've mattered.

He created two timelines, both identical to each other. In both, he opened another camera screen to find Zeus in Noelle's cell, standing next to the healed girl. In one, he watched as the Travellers crowded around her, and Zeus headed out into the base. Towards his room. He tried his best to appear calm and in control. Hard to do when a walking bioweapon was approaching.

The door opened with ease, Zeus' strength impressive. He stood in the doorway, a black cloak hanging from his waist. His armour was less organic-looking, and more stylised. It was far more ornate, with sleeker blades covering it. Parts of it – the pieces covering his arms, legs, and midriff – were made to resemble scales. Gold lines were etched across him, picking out a winged symbol on his chest, which was molded to resemble a cross between a carapace, metal plating, and sculpted flesh. His helmet was that of an old, bearded man. A large golden wreath extended from his head, somewhat resembling horns.

Even as he watched, it changed somewhat again. A smooth mask covered the eyes of his helmet, leaving the sculpted beard free. Two large spikes grew from his back. Evidently, Zeus still hadn't settled on a design he liked.

"Ah, Zeus. My _former_ employee." Coil said jovially. He waved a hand at his computer monitor. "I see that you have succeeded in restoring Ms Meinhardt to her original state."

"Then you know why I'm here." Zeus said, his voice echoey and layered with different voices. "Dinah Alcott. Now."

"Ah. Yes." Coil shifted somewhat. "I understand why you want her released, but…"

"Not excuses Coil. You needed her to fix Noelle. I healed her, and removed her powers. You don't need Dinah anymore."

"If you will just hear me out. I can assure you, what I'm about to say benefits us both." Zeus crossed his arms, but he didn't lash out. A good sign. "Thank you. First off, let me be frank with you about something. I still desire to conquer a city and rule over it as its shadowy dictator. A plan I _was_ implementing in Brockton Bay before you unleashed your very public takeover. And so I thought of a way that I could still get a city for myself, and _you_ get to have allies. Or at least, less enemies."

"…Continue." Zeus replied curtly.

Under his mask, Coil smiled. He had him, hook and line. Now he just needed to reel him in. "Imagine, if you will, that another city out there was allied with you. Not publicly, but from the shadows. We could offer you supplies that you wouldn't normally receive; we could cause distractions elsewhere to draw people's attention away. We could even be willing to aid you in the event that the world attempts to destroy you again. But the process would be slow. It would take me _years_ to conquer a city, even _with_ everyone scrambling to regain control. But if I had Dinah to help give me the percentages for my powers, I could speed up control by a significant amount. Enough that I could have you three allies within five years. Four if I pushed it. Surely that is worth keeping Dinah for. Even _if_ she suffers for it. What is one girl to someone like you?"

Zeus uncrossed his arms. "If it was some random girl, probably nothing. But I've seen what happens when people kidnap children because of their powers. Throwing them in a lab and experimenting on them until they give them what they want." Coil tried to say something, but he found it hard to speak with a tentacle constricting his throat. "And besides, Swarm and Athena both have serious issues with you drugging Dinah and using her. If Athena wants something, she gets it. And freeing her is part of my deal with Swarm. I was only hearing you out to see if she was _vitally_ important to your plans. But if you can take over cities without her, then you will shut up and deal with it. I can defend Mount Olympus for a few years. Long enough for you to make some deals."

No. No. This wasn't going right at all. He was losing him. He was going to lose Dinah. He quickly turned to the other reality, to find a way out there.

In the other reality, as soon as he saw Zeus with Noelle, he ran for it. Grabbed a sleeping Dinah and ran up the secret passageway. Hopped in the car, floored it out of the garage, and headed for the city limits. Not explosions, no self-destructs… Just speed, and lots of it.

Remembering what happened last time, he quickly buckled his seatbelt. He travelled past one block… then two… then three… he was going to…

A Hunter landed in his path, and he had to swerve to avoid it. It lashed out with one arm, and its claws latched into the framework. The car jolted as it went from sixty to full stop, dragging the Hunter after it. Birds landed on top, and rended the roof with their claws. One bird grabbed Dinah, carrying her away. Three others grabbed his seat, and pulled it free. He tried to undo his seatbelt, even as it pressed against him, but the pressure was too much. The Hunter sliced the seatbelt with a claw, and he went flying into the air. Then the birds tipped the seat, and he fell screaming to the ground below.

He banished that reality, returning to the one where Zeus had him by the throat. There was no way out of this. Not alive.

"Fine." He croaked, furious and frightened. "She's all yours. Do with her as you will." Zeus released him, and he took as deep a breath as his mask allowed.

"Good." Zeus replied. "Implement your plan. Find a city to take over. You can rule it however you want; as long as you remember what you promised me." He turned to Dinah's room, ripping the door free like it was nothing. Dinah was already waiting on the other side, obviously already knowing the outcome. Zeus turned and walked away, and Dinah followed her like a baby following a mother duck.

Coil just sat there, catching his breath. He clenched his fists in anger. There was no way around it; Zeus had beaten him.

His plans were in ruins.

* * *

 _ **(Faultline)**_

Gregor the Snail walked down the street, a bag of perishables in one hand. He had just been to the nearby dairy, left abandoned by its owners when they left Brockton Bay after Zeus took over. It felt wrong to just steal the supplies, but it was unlikely that they would return before the food went bad, if at all. It would be rude to let it go to waste.

He didn't feel uneasy walking the streets to get supplies. Many people had left, leaving the streets empty and quiet. _And I'm certainly wasn't the strangest thing out on the streets_ , he mused, watching as one of Zeus' eagles landed on a nearby roof. It shifted shape and latched onto the roof corner with its claws, turning into some kind of organic camera.

Beside him, his fellow teammate Shamrock kept an eye on the camera bird. "City's really changing around us." She said. She had her red hair tied up in a ponytail, and was rather attractive. Gregor was happy to be walking alongside her and getting to admire her appearance. "Walls are getting made, his Pantheon's getting all the good jobs, and we're all stuck scrabbling for food. Reminds me of home."

"The Monarchy of your world were very much like this?" He asked. Shamrock was a lot like him – a mutant known as a Case 53 – but unlike everyone else he met, she never got her mind wiped. She still remembered home, still remembered what it was like. And she remembered that she was abducted by men and experimented on.

Shamrock shrugged. "There were good kings and bad kings. Same as anywhere. Lots of political moving and wars for land. But this just feels… different." They both passed by a pack of monsters, spitting some fluid over a cracked wall that hardened within seconds. "Maybe it's the fact that his organic stuff stands out against the rest of the city like some wart. When my home got conquered, all our new king did was replace the statues of his predecessor with ones of himself. Everything else stayed mostly the same."

"I do not mind it so much." Gregor replied casually. "It is nice to not stand out so much anymore." By now, they had reached their home. The nightclub, Palanquin. Normally busy and very exclusive, tonight even the bouncers had gone home. The two of them pushed through the double doors, headed towards the back, and went up the stairs to the top floors where they lived. There, they found the rest of their team lounging about.

"Hey Gregor." Newter said, waving a hand lazily. "You got those cheese crackers I like?" Shamrock reached into the bag, pulling out a packet of crackers and throwing them at him. He held out a hand, and they fell right into place. "Cheers."

The two of them moved around the room, handing food to the others. Emily, known as Spitfire, smiled as Gregor handed her a packet of chips. Elle barely looked up as she was handed a sandwich, but at least she took a bite of it without prompting. It meant that today was one of the good days.

That just left their leader, Faultline. Who was standing by the window, staring out at Mount Olympus in the distance. Even from their hill, it was still taller than them.

"Hey boss." Shamrock said. "We got quite a haul out there today. Chips, drinks, bread, milk… take your pick." She pulled out a bar of chocolate. "How about something sweet?" She waved it beside Faultline's head.

"…I'm not hungry right now." She replied.

"There's no use, Sham." Newter called out. "She's busy thinking over there. That, or the view's _really_ interesting over there."

"Someone's got to think about our future in here." Faultline said. "We can't all just relax and lie around. We need to think about what's going to happen with Zeus."

"We leave him alone, obviously. Isn't that one of our strengths? We know when to fight, and when to get the hell of somewhere. And if anyone's worth leaving alone right now, it's Zeus."

"I know that, Newter. I'm not talking about fighting him." She turned around, looking at all of them. "Zeus was really clear about his stance on anyone with powers. Either we work for him as lackeys, or we get the hell out of here. I'm not interested in bogging us down with one guy, but it'll be tough setting ourselves up in another city. We're not the only parahuman group out there willing to work for hire, and they'll do everything they can to make sure we don't encroach on their work." She took a deep breath. "That said, I'm not going to force you guys to do something you don't want. I want to hear your opinions."

Newter sat upright, giving her his full attention. "I say we try to cut a deal with Zeus. Or Athena. Maybe we give them a cut to keep our base here. He helped us out with the Merchants. Gave us the paperwork."

"Only because he was more interested in the vials." Faultline pointed out. "The paperwork was a compromise. I somehow doubt he'll be as accommodating."

"Maybe. But Athena might be. And he dotes on her. She could convince him to cut a deal."

"I wish to stay here." Gregor spoke up. "Out there, Case 53s are discriminated against. Newter and I would be laughed at and mocked. In here, there are enough monsters running around that we do not stand out so much. And as you said, we will have a hard time competing against other mercenaries. Many of them are stronger, more versatile, or more well-connected than us. We would be at a disadvantage."

Shamrock shrugged. "I don't mind if we move. This place creeps me out, what with all the organic work being done. But… I'm not keen on splitting up the crew. I like us all working together. Even you, Newter. Sometimes." Newter chuckled at that.

"Home." Elle simply said. Her way of saying that this was home.

"I kinda agree with Shamrock. I'm not fond of what's happening here, but I hate breaking up the team even more." Emily said.

Faultline clicked her tongue against her teeth, and sighed. "I was hoping you guys would've wanted to leave, but alright. I'll get in contact with Athena and figure out how to get through this without them screwing us over."

"If we do not like their terms, we can always say no." Gregor said. "While I like it here, I am willing to move if it meant a better deal for us."

Faultline nodded, glad they weren't forcing her into a corner. "Thanks for that Gregor."

* * *

The next day, she was waiting outside a still-working café, sitting at one of the tables. Waiting for Athena to arrive, as per their call.

And she was late.

She knew there were probably good reasons for her tardiness – a league of villains can't just take over a whole city without a lot of hiccups, she imagined – but even so, it didn't speak well about how the Pantheon were handling their new power. It could end up being that they crash and burn, America stepping in to reclaim this place again. At the very least, it meant that they were wasting her time. And she _hated_ people like that.

And so she sat there waiting, tapping her finger and bouncing her foot impatiently. One minute turned to two; then to five; and then five to ten. After fifteen minutes of waiting, she was just about to leave.

But then an army truck drove up nearby, some kind of deformed creature sitting in the driver's seat. All arms and legs and eyes. From the back stepped out larger monsters, setting up position by the truck. They looked like those Hunters, if they had learnt to stand on two legs. Chitinous plating covered important areas of the body, with spikes growing from the shoulders and knees. It had a wolfish head, with large fangs jutting outwards. In their hands, they carried large spears. She put them at about seven feet tall.

And in the middle of them was Athena.

"Hey." Athena said breathlessly, sagging into the seat and removing her helmet. She had short wild brown hair, and a waifish face. She looked too young to be second in command of the Pantheon. "Sorry I'm so late. Just been dealing with complaints from shopkeepers." She sighed. "It's just one thing after another." One of her guards growled deeply, and they turned to see a frightened waitress frozen, likely approaching them. "Oh thank god. I'd like something sweet and caramely, and really sweet tea. Or whatever it's called. Faultline? What do you want to drink?"

"Coffee. Black." She replied tersely. The waitress nodded, shakily writing it all down, before practically running back into the café. Faultline turned back to Athena. "Gotta say, I'm not all that impressed right now. I thought you maniacal take-over-the-world types would be more organised than this."

"We'd be more organised if this wasn't something that just dropped into our laps." Athena replied, wiping her forehead. "Despite what people think, we weren't angling for this crap. It's just what happens when you want to live somewhere people aren't going to drop bombs on your head and kidnap you in broad daylight." She took a deep breath. "But we're not here about _my_ problems. You wanted to talk; so talk."

Faultline sat up straighter. "As you're probably aware, calling my team 'supervillains' is a gross misinterpretation. We're simply a band of mercenaries, using super powers to help us win. Because of that, we're neutral in all this 'good guy, bad guy' bullcrap. If someone buys our services, we help them out. If someone else pays us to bust our old employers, we do that too." She crossed her arms. "So I'm testy about the fact that we're apparently lumped in with every _other_ parahuman crime gang out there. And I don't like people ordering me to join up with them."

Athena rubbed her forehead. "Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Are you saying that you want to remain independent from the Pantheon?"

"Exactly. _And_ we want to keep working out of Brockton Bay."

"…Can I ask why?"

"Mercenary work is a cutthroat business. There's a lot of money involved, and there are only so many jobs. So when a group finds a niche, they keep hold of it with both hands. People that try to muscle in on them tend to disappear, and they're willing to blow up a lot of shit to scare competitors off. We've got a good set-up here, until you lot fucked it up. If we move, you can bet your fat ass that the others will try to run us out of business as quickly as possible."

"My ass isn't fat." Athena replied quickly. The waitress approached them, carrying a quaking tray. She quickly placed their drinks and the cake, before running back into the store and closing the door. Athena took a long sip of her tea, and ate a few big bites of her cake. "But I'm starting to get your point. So you want an exemption from working for us."

"Exactly. So here's the part where you and I negotiate over what needs to happen to make this happen."

Athena placed a finger to her chin, mulling it over. "How much do you guys make per job?" She asked.

Faultline could see where this is going. "It varies." She replied truthfully. "Sometimes we make twenty grand. Other times it bumps up to fifty. We're not a really big company that makes a hundred thousand per job. But we get by pretty well."

"After seeing your nightclub, I bet you do." She tapped at her wrist computer. "In that case, barring possible expenses, medical bills, food money… I'd say we should get a ten percent cut of your pay. That sounds fair enough. And you'll still have plenty left over."

"So you're seriously going to charge us rent? I thought you guys were rolling in the city's cash."

Athena shrugged. "Most of that's going towards rebuilding the city. It's not cheap you know. Especially the parts where we wrecked the Protectorate. We need to make some more revenue, and every little bit helps. But if you're too cheap-ass to cough up ten percent, you can always try elsewhere."

Now it was Faultline's turn to sigh. She didn't like it, didn't like the idea that they'd increase the 'rent'. But it wasn't actually a bad deal. There was just one thing she wanted to know first. "I'm interested. But what do I get for my payment?"

"First off, we'll leave you alone. You guys can keep doing whatever you do, and we don't attack you. You get to keep your nightclub, and we can supply power to keep it open if need be. We'll also offer some of our crop to you for when or if the dairies run out. And we can also offer some of our tech to…"

"No to the last part. We use your creepy shit, people will think we work for you."

"Fine. No Blacklight tech. But the rest still stands. Do we have a deal?" She held out a hand.

"…You'd better hold up _your_ end of the bargain." She replied finally, clutching Athena's hand and shaking. Then she stood up. "I should head back. Tell the others what's going on; get in touch with our clients. Business stuff."

"You go then. I'm gonna stay here and rest until the next crisis pops up." Athena said, propping her feet on top of the table. One of her honour guards moved forward, supporting her chair with a hand. "God, I don't get much time to just pop my feet up like this." Athena looked at Faultline. "You sure I can't interest you in a job? I could use someone like you to help take some weight off my back."

"No. I've never been interested in running anything bigger than a team." She replied, turning away. Behind her, Athena shrugged and closed her eyes.

Well, she made the call. All they could do now was see if it ended up blowing up in their faces.

* * *

 _ **(Fenrir's Chosen)**_

Hookwolf stood on the walkway above his crew, all of them hiding out inside a disused warehouse. Everyone knew they were here, knew that they operated out of this place. But no one was dumb enough to try and pick a fight with them on their home turf.

Now though, that might not be true anymore.

Despite preferring to charge in and wreck anyone in his way, he wasn't stupid. You don't last as long as he has without knowing when you've bitten off more than you can handle. Before, he would've considered taking down Blacklight and his stupid Pantheon, isolating them and tearing them apart until they chased them out of the city. Now though, he knew that wouldn't work. Blacklight chased the heroes out of the city. Not just the local heroes, but everyone else that showed up to help. Sent them all running with their tales between their legs; at least the ones still standing afterwards that is.

His men would want blood. They'd want to prove they're the toughest bastards around. And all they'd do is get all of them killed. He wasn't going down like this. Like some fucking joke people bring up to laugh about when talking about Brockton Bay. He was going to live and be feared. Or at least he was going to die in battle, the kind that gets spoken of in reverence and fear.

He turned to Stormtiger, and gave him a nod. His fellow parahuman launched a blast of wind at the ground, carving a groove into it. Everyone down below started at that, turning towards them and giving their full attention.

Hookwolf slammed his hand against the guard rail. "Brothers." He called out, his voice commanding. "Many of you have had thoughts about Zeus and his rule over our city. Some of you thought we should join him, because he's supposedly some kind of white god." He snarled. "You've seen what we do to traitors like that. He's no god. And just because he's pale doesn't mean he shares our goals. He actually mingles with the coloured filth, like they're equals." He slammed his hand again. "Others of you felt that we should march out, grab everyone we can, and take him down. Brave… but foolish. As our kind – the true believers – have learnt in the past, there are some threats that we cannot best in a frontal assault. Threats like the lily-livered government, trying to act like everyone's the same. But we didn't bow and scrape at their feet. Not truthfully. Our people hid in the shadows, and used them to tear down the bastards around us. The government runs around trying to find us, thinking that we can't hide from them. A hundred years they've been trying to stamp us out. But we've survived everything they try. And we can do so here."

"Publicly, we'll return to our normal lives. We'll slink away, and pretend that Zeus managed to beat us down. We will use their idiocy to strike from the shadows. We'll wear this city down like fleas on a dog until we tear down the Pantheon. And then, we will create a new city. We will purge it of anyone who isn't white." He smiled. "And then…"

Cricket started beside him, hands already gripping her weapons. "They are coming." She interrupted his speech. Normally, he hated someone interrupting him. Especially a woman. But Cricket's powers gave her echolocation. She could see things that they couldn't. If she said that Zeus' forces were coming, then they were coming.

He growled, armouring up. "You've got your orders. Now get out of here. And know that our future can't be stopped." Everyone cheered, even as they took off running. Just as the last member left the warehouse, the windows shattered. Monsters came crashing in, cracking the ground as they landed. There were screams outside, probably the ones that got themselves spotted. The far doors were blasted open, and in came four members of the Pantheon. The Smith, the archers, and a petite woman decorated with red feathers and had fire burning across her body.

Hephaestus hoisted his massive hammer. "Been waiting a _long_ time to take you motherfucking Ku Klux Krazies down." He said, his anger still noticeable through the distortion to his voice. "Time to see how brave you assholes are when your victims start fighting back."

Hookwolf growled, jumping down from above. His armoured form allowed him to land safely. "Knew that Zeus worked with disgusting trash. I look forward to cleansing this city of filth."

"And _I_ look forward to shoving your ass halfway out of your mouth." Hephaestus twisted the handle of his hammer, and the head split apart and crackled with electricity. He swung it faster than he should've been able to, and Hookwolf barely stopped in time. And then he swung the hammer around himself, slamming it into Hookwolf before he could back away. He growled in pain as lightning flowed through his plating. Hephaestus grabbed him by the head, ignoring his snarling bites, and slammed him against the ground. Then, he slammed the pommel of his hammer against his back.

Meanwhile, the others joined into the fight. Fenja and Menja both grew as large as they could inside the warehouse, using their enhanced strength and durability to swat around the Hunters. Stormtiger was facing off against Apollo, the 'god' flying around his wind strikes and retaliating with powerful light blasts. The floor was torn apart with each strike, and he used his natural durability to handle smashing into the ground at top speed. Behind him, Cricket and Artemis were dancing around each other, Cricket trying to use her echolocation to disorient her opponent. But Artemis was still going strong, shooting arrow after arrow at incredible pace. One arrow managed to pierce Cricket in the arm, and made the limb explode. Rune distracted her by throwing a large boulder she pulled out of the ground, but Artemis jumped over it without looking.

"Forget about me?" The fire woman said, shooting flames at her distracted opponent. Rune managed to get another rock in place in time to avoid being charcoal, but the woman simply slammed into the rock at great speed and smashed it apart with a hammer hand. Rune dropped down, throwing every rock at her. She landed, and there was a loud crack. She screamed in pain; she must've broken at least one leg from the fall.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a small puddle of fire behind her. An aftereffect from the flame blast. And the woman stepped out of it like an open door. She grabbed Rune by the neck, and with a twist of her wrist snapped her neck. Tendrils reached out and consumed her, dragging her into the woman even as she was torn apart.

Hookwolf roared loudly, flinging Hephaestus away. Then he charged towards him again. If he could disarm him of that hammer, then he'd at least get a slight advantage.

The hammer shifted shapes, turning into a large cannon on a stick. Hephaestus fired it twice, Hookwolf jumping over both shots. But as he was about to pounce, a wall of steel rose up from the ground, slamming into him and wrapping around him.

"Don't think so fucker." Hephaestus said, pointing his cannon straight at his face. The shot was point blank, shredding his wolf head. He was blasted out of the metal wall, skidding against the ground. Then Hephaestus smashed through the rest, both arms now covered by spiked shields. He landed on top of Hookwolf, and started tearing into him.

Luckily for Hookwolf, he had transferred his self into one of the larger discarded pieces. It was incredibly painful, but he managed to return to normal. Return to being human. He thought things through logically, and tactically. This was not a fight they could win. The Pantheon were just too strong, too numerous, and not against killing.

He hated to admit it, but it would be even more foolish to refuse to face reality.

"Retreat!" He shouted, already smashing through one of the windows. He ignored the pain from the cuts and the imbedded glass, running as fast as he could down the streets. Behind him, Fenja and Menja smashed through the wall, tearing off the Hunters and carrying Cricket and Stormtiger in their hands. Apollo flew out of the hole, and blasted at Menja. She tried to dodge, but her size was now a hindrance in the alleyway. It clipped her arm, and blew it off at the elbow. She screamed and pressed her hand against it, but kept on running. Fenja picked Hookwolf up and kept going, running as fast as they could. As they ran, they both shrunk in size, growing smaller and smaller with every step. Soon, they were able to sidestep into an alleyway, taking several turns before ending up in unfamiliar territory. They all came to a stop, panting for breath and licking their wounds. Fenja immediately rushed to her sister, ripping cloth from her costume to bind her arm. Cricket was doing the same on herself. Hookwolf leaned against the wall, growling in frustration. He was a warrior. He didn't run from fights. He revelled in them. He should've stayed his ground.

And be bested by filth. That was _not_ a fitting end for him.

"We're done for, aren't we?" Menja said quietly, now morose. "We can't hope to match them, and we just keep getting weaker while _they_ grow stronger. The Chosen are finished."

Hookwolf growled again. "I won't take that kind of attitude from anyone in _my_ gang. If I weren't so low on parahumans, I'd make you regret saying those words." He stood up straighter, pushing away from the wall. "The Chosen are _not_ done. We are _not_ finished. We simply need to find new territory. Outside the city. We will cleanse the outside world of the dirty mongrels, and then we'll come back with an army. An army big enough to give Zeus pause. And then we'll show him that the white man is the greatest predators on the planet." He winced at the pain from the glass; but he also embraced it. Pain was a warrior's true companion; it was with him at every step. It was his livelihood and his reason for living. It was what he was good at.

"We'll find a doctor that _doesn't_ lick Zeus' boots. And then we'll grab a truck, and leave this place. Then, we begin anew." He said, turning away and walking.

 _One day, Zeus. One day, I will rip out your heart and devour it._

* * *

 _ **(The Travellers)**_

Jess though she knew so much about the parahumans of Earth Bet. She had always been a fan of superheroes, ever since she was little and just reading comic books. Seeing people pulling off incredible acrobatic tricks and flying and running really fast and all those other incredible things made the fact she was paraplegic seem… less real. Sometimes, she would close her eyes and pretend that _she_ was the one flying around. Or running through steel barriers. She knew it was impossible; she'd been this way her whole life, couldn't even learn to walk as a toddler. But it was always nice to dream.

And then scientists somehow managed to get in contact with an alternate Earth. Or rather, the alternate scientists got in contact with them. The multiverse theory was proven right, communications were started, and everyone started freaking out. All Jess cared about was that this new Earth, Earth Bet, had actual superheroes living there.

Now she wasn't the weird geek obsessing over comics. Now she was part of a new clique, which everyone would go to about superpowers and who's who in Earth Bet. She collected bootleg videos and documentaries about the Protectorate, the Wards, and their fights with supervillains. She had posters that people in Earth Aleph made, along with stickers and stationary and even bedspreads. She was obsessed with their world. And their powers.

But even with that kind of fervour, knowing so much about them didn't really prepare you for how things really are over there. She always imagined a world where good eventually triumphed over evil. Sure, the bad guys won some times. Good people were killed, cities ravaged. But in the end, the good guys win and the bad guys lose.

But instead, she was stuck in a city ruled over by an anti-villain. Or anti-hero. Or maybe even neither. The heroes were just as grey as any other group; sometimes the bad guys weren't so bad, and sometimes the heroes weren't so good. And she wasn't sure if she was stuck on the wrong side. She _wanted_ to be a hero, doing good and righting wrongs. But sometimes being a villain was more effective.

At least she wasn't here alone. At least she had her friends to help.

Humming to herself, she loaded the finished teapot onto a small tray just the right size for her wheelchair. Rolling back over to the table, she plopped the tray up and pushed it into the center of the table.

"Thanks Jess." Marissa said, grabbing her own drink. She and the others were hanging out in her base, watching the large TV set on a 24/7 news channel. And even though it had been a few days, they were still talking about Mount Olympus.

Luke groaned. "For fuck's sakes. Isn't there anything better on TV? I'm sick of hearing these assholes just talking all the time." He grabbed the remote and started flicking through channels; most were either still about Zeus and his takeover, or kiddie shows too young for them. Even the sports channel wasn't doing much else. "Fucking hell." Luke threw the remote down and huffed.

Krouse picked up the fallen remote and flicked back to the news channel. "This is important Luke." He admonished in his arrogant way. "We need to know what the enemy is planning. Get ourselves ready to run if they try anything." He flashed a grin at Jess. "After all, some of us aren't as fast as the others."

She flicked him off. She never really thought of Krouse as a true friend; not like the others. He was only really part of their group because he and Noelle had been dating. And because he became a part of their gaming team. And then the Simurgh pulled them all to Earth Bet, and he was the one with the plans. So they stuck around him, even though he was an asshole.

Like making fun of her crippled nature again.

She deliberately ignored him, focusing her attention on the TV. Right now, some bigwig psychiatrist was talking about Zeus' motivations.

"…must understand, this is all subjective." He was saying. "There's not much data on Zeus to make a truly accurate profile. But there's still quite a lot of data from his interactions with people. During battle, he is quick and ruthless; using bloody techniques to kill people as quickly and as thoroughly as possible. He's started off with an average villain name, but now that he's proven he can wrest a city from us he's started stylising himself as a god."

"So what you're saying is that he's psychotic." The news presenter said.

"Uh, no. He's psychopathic. The two are very similar, but psychotic behaviour is defined as a mental disorder; they suffer delusions, hallucinations, and their minds almost _trick_ them into killing. A _psychopath_ , however, is perfectly lucid. They're aware of what they're doing; they're making a conscious decision to murder. And for many psychopaths, they kill people because they _like_ it. It is therefore my belief that Zeus isn't going to be satisfied with Brockton Bay; an invasion and possible culling of the world is all but a certainty."

"Well it's therefore _my_ belief that you're a fucking idiot." Krouse said to the TV, throwing an orange peel at the screen.

"Hey!" Jess nearly shouted. "Stop throwing things at my TV. Do you have any idea how hard it is to clean something like that, even _with_ my powers?"

"What? I was just expressing my thoughts on the guy. He's just making shit up to try and sound important. I bet you that there'll be tons of people out there ready to ask this guy over and over about his theories on Zeus. And he'll tell them shit like this, over and over again."

"He's not exactly wrong though." Marissa pointed out. "Zeus _is_ kinda crazy. I mean, how can someone kill so many people and not feel anything?"

"Easy. Those assholes started this; I'm not gonna cry about them getting their asses handed to them." Luke said.

"There's a difference between getting their asses handed to them and getting torn to shreds." She argued back. Mars was always against violence. Part of it was that she had always been like that, and part of it was that her power was easily the most lethal of the bunch.

Luke looked like he was ready to argue, but then Krouse's phone started ringing. He looked at it with indifference, but sat up straighter when he saw who it was.

Krouse hardly _ever_ took things seriously.

"Oliver, what is it?" He asked. Ah, of course. Oliver. The final member of the team. Stuck being Noelle's caretaker. "Slow down, slow down. She's _what_? No, no; I get it. Just… get in touch with Coil, see if… What do you mean he isn't available? What is he doing?... Yeah, great help there. I get that he's 'busy'. Busy with _what_?" He sighed. "Look. Just… just keep her calm. Get one of the mercs help you feed her. I'll come up with something." He hung up and rubbed his hand against the area around his eyes.

"Noelle?" Mars asked, the lot of them already aware of the answer.

"She's getting worse. She's getting hungrier, angrier, and she's just starting to lose it." He looked up, determined expression on his face. "It's time Zeus helped us out."

Jess blinked in surprise. "What, now?" She asked. "You think he's got a cure ready for her by now? He's been busy getting attacked. He'll need time."

"We don't _have_ time. Either he's got something that can help her, or we need to come up with another plan. We can't just sit on our asses and pretend this isn't happening." He stood up, grabbing his mask and top hat from the stand. "I'm going anyway. If you guys are too chicken to join me, then stay here watching idiots talk about nonsense." And then he was out the door. Luke and Marissa looked at each other, before getting up as well and grabbing their own masks and helmets.

Leaving Jess behind.

But then, she was used to it. In fact, her power meant that she worked better staying behind. She leaned back in her chair, making sure she was comfortable, and then closed her eyes. Visualised a new form. A black knight, easily seven feet tall, carrying a greatsword just as big. Her powers meant that she didn't have to appear within close proximity to her real body; she appeared before the gates of Mount Olympus, just far enough away to not startle the guards.

Almost as an afterthought, she put the word Genesis in red on her chest. Didn't want Zeus mistaking her for a new villain trying to sneak in. Then she stepped out into view. One of the Hunters jumped down and headed towards her, not visibly aggressive. It lowered its head to look at her chest, and snorted.

"What… you… want?" It growled, mangled vocal cords forming words. Not that she was much better. At least it _had_ vocal cords. She completely forgot about them. The suit couldn't include them.

So they were stuck there, staring at each other until Krouse teleported into view, huffing and puffing. The Hunter turned to stare at him.

"I need… to see… Zeus." He panted, bent over. "I'm… calling in… his promise." The Hunter kept staring, but then turned back and jumped onto the top of the gates. The others managed to join them just as they started heading in, Luke swearing under his breath. The four of them headed straight towards Mount Olympus, ignoring the people strolling around at this time of night. Some of them pointed, but most just accepted that villains were walking the streets and went on with their business.

When they reached the front doors, Zeus was waiting for them.

"It's not ready yet." He said gruffly to them. "I'll need some more time to work out the theory and then collect a DNA sample. Go home; I'll call you when I'm good and ready."

"Don't care." Krouse said quickly. "Noelle's getting worse. You need to give us _something_ to keep her calm. I don't think she can last much longer." Zeus paused, caught between looking ready to beat him and actually listening.

"…I may have a temporary measure." He finally said. "A couple of them. It won't be perfect, and there's a chance she won't survive. Still interested?" Krouse paused, obviously having second thoughts. But then he nodded. "Fine then. Let's go to see Coil." A larger Hunter formed from the ground, its back molded to resemble seats. He looked at them, tilted his head towards it.

Jess and Mars understood first. Jess threw down her sword and jumped into the largest seat, felt her new body slot in easily. The Hunter rolled its shoulders as she landed in her seat. Luke and Krouse joined them. Then they were off, Zeus leading them. They ran down the main street, and then they were jumping into the air, over the gate. Something wrapped around her like a seatbelt; she heard Mars squeal in disgust. Then they landed with bone shaking force, and were charging down the street.

It didn't take them long to reach Coil's base. The Hunter came to a halt and released them, dropping down so they could get off. Zeus led them down towards the gate, likely aware that they were being watched. He formed one hand into a hammer, and banged loudly with the other. There was only silence.

He slammed his hammerfist into the door, leaving a sizable dent.

"State your business!" A panicky voice sounded over the intercom. Obviously the mercs knew they were dead if he attacked.

"I'm here to do Coil's work for him." Zeus said. "I need access to Noelle. Now."

"Er… I'm not really…" Zeus punched the door again. It bulged enough to be nearly knocked out of its frame. "Ok." The merc said, his voice quiet.

Zeus ripped the door away (it was too dented to be opened normally) and they followed him inside. The mercs kept their weapons at the ready, despite their uselessness. Their group headed down to the vault door, where more of Coil's men were already getting it open.

Jess belatedly wondered what Zeus would've done if they hadn't opened it. Would he have simply ripped the door away too?

It didn't matter. The vault was open as quickly as possible. No one wanted to make him angry.

And inside, they could see Noelle thrashing.

"Hungry." She was saying. "So hungry. So hungry!" Her extra mouths were opening and closing, biting at thin air. "Want food. Give me food!"

"Here goes nothing." Zeus said to himself, already jumping into the air. Noelle lashed out at him with something, swatting him out of the sky. But Zeus landed on his feet, holding onto her tentacle.

Then the skin started turning black and red.

Noelle screamed in pain, her body trying to fight back. But Zeus ignored it, releasing her and heading for her actual body. Her lower half was changing, becoming more complacent and looking like his work. She was worried. What if he was really killing her?

What if his cure didn't work?

Zeus landed near her upper body, feet sinking into her lower half. Tendrils snaked out from his arms, racing through the air towards her. They wrapped around her head, forming a cap of some kind. And then she went still, her body arcing its back. The rest of her stopped thrashing.

They stayed that way for what felt like ages, neither of them moving. But just as she started worrying that something went wrong, her lower half changed. The infected parts flowed away, forming a block in the corner of the room. The bits they hadn't consumed yet were being added, tearing away at everything. Zeus landed first, still holding onto Noelle with his tendrils. He lowered her gently, his biomass flowing away to reveal legs.

Two, perfectly normal, smooth legs.

Noelle collapsed when she landed, and the tendrils left her. Zeus pressed a hand to his head, and the rest of the biomass flowed towards him. Krouse was already rushing towards Noelle, ignoring Zeus as he went to cradle her. The rest of them joined him.

Please let her be ok. Please let her be healed.

Groaning, Noelle opened her eyes. Saw them staring down at her. She started crying, holding Krouse close to her and curling up her legs.

"Well. It actually worked." Zeus remarked. "Wasn't too sure about that."

Krouse looked at him. "What did you do?" He asked. They all wanted to know how he healed her.

"I used my biomass to remove the affected parts of her body, and replace it with my own material to create new legs. Everything below the waist isn't really hers. And then I probed her mind, searching for the power so I can surgically remove it. She _should_ return to normal, but I'd like to take her to my lab at some point and do some _proper_ work." He turned and walked away. "I'll call you when I finally get somewhere with the real cure."

They let him walk away. This cure he was making might be better, but who cared? Noelle was normal again. The way he said it, he had removed the power that twisted her in the first place. That was good enough for them.

"So now that Noelle's back, what do we do?" Mars asked. "I mean, the cure was the only reason we stuck around. Do we leave and head elsewhere? Try and find someone to take us home?"

Krouse looked up at her. "Leave the city where we're kings? Hardly." He shrugged. "Besides, someone's bound to turn up that can send us back. And Zeus can find them and bring them to us."

Jess knew he wasn't being truthful. He didn't want to go back to a world where he was nobody. He wanted to stay here, where he was feared and revered. Where they made more money per hour than they ever made during tournament plays.

Where he had _real_ power.

Jess wanted to see home again too. But she was in a world that she had wished she could visit time and again. And there wasn't many people able to send them back anyway.

Might as well enjoy themselves. Enjoy being a team again.

* * *

 **And that's the villains aftermath done. Coil's been sent elsewhere, Faultline's still in business, the Chosen are being chased off, and the Travellers got what they wanted.**

 **Next chapter is going to focus on the Athena and the Pantheon. And all the trouble that comes with taking over a city.**

 **Edit: There was _one_ thing I wanted to talk about. Some people complained that Alex going after the Trio for what they did to Taylor was OOC. But when I was rewriting that chapter, I though 'Hang on. Why would Alex care about Dinah if he needs to be convinced to help Taylor?' I should at least be consistant with his personality. So that's why I'm not changing that bit.**


	19. Aftermath - Athena

**Ok. I just want to start by apologising for taking so long. I keep forgetting how quickly time flies by, and I've been letting myself be distracted a lot by games, movies and ideas for other stories that I haven't released yet. And then there's Achievement Hunter videos, which are too funny to** _ **not**_ **watch. But I've decided that for Christmas, I'm going to work my way through as much of these Aftermaths as I can. So the next one should (hopefully) be in a couple of days. Maybe more since I've got work. And Destiny's Dawning came out. Want to get the cool stuff before it ends.**

 **So, onto how things are changing for Dana.**

* * *

 **Chapter 19: Aftermath – Athena**

 _Dana was sitting at her desk, typing away at her laptop. Hacking system after system, file after file. Alex said that Gentek was up to something. Something they were willing to do_ _ **anything**_ _to keep secret. People were going missing from work. He wanted her to find out what connected them; what exactly they all had in common._

 _He said she was the best hacker he knew. That if anyone could break into their systems, it was her. She swelled with pride at those words._

 _So here she was, tits-deep in company secrets. And if even_ _ **half**_ _of these were true and not some weird false trails made up to catch people like her… Gentek was dirty. Worse than dirty._

 _She stopped typing, finding herself looking at their most top-secret folder. Something about 'Redlight'. About making it even more dangerous than before._

 _And on the list of names… was Alex._

 _Her screen flickered, just as a minor tremor shook the room. The screen now showed a skinny woman, wearing some kind of wetsuit, sitting on a table. It had restraints on it, and it was snug around her body. The woman looked up, and Dana backed away. Her eyes were dead. Empty abysses. There was no life, no hope, no anything in there._

 _Then the woman was reaching out of the screen, mouth split open wide to reveal hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. A pronged tentacle waved out from her mouth, her teeth rotating like some kind of wood-chipper. As she backed away in fear, the room shook more violently. One wall exploded, slamming into her. Her whole body ached._

 _And then something thick and strong was pressing against her stomach. Pressing her against something alive._

" _Dana!" She heard Alex shout, just as the world shifted. She looked around her as best as she could, spotting Alex far behind. She was in the hands of some… monster. A giant monster that could easily kill her. She turned forward again to see the woman within inches of her face, floating above the ground. Her skin was completely pale, and her red hair was shorn in places._

 _Elizabeth Greene licked her lips. "You will be made anew." She said, her voice echoey. "You will become one of us. Now and forever." She moved her hand closer. Dana could feel her skin writhing as she approached, felt it start to tear as she went to pierce her skin. It hurt so much._

 _And then they were flying. The streets far below grew fainter and fainter as they rose. Greene was gone, left far down below. Dana turned in the tight grip around her to find a masked woman with long black hair holding her. She glanced down at Dana, scorn written all over her face._

" _You are a disease." Alexandria said. "You doom our world simply because you think you know your so-called 'brother'. You keep pretending that it's really him and not some horrific monster wearing his face." The world shook, and lit up behind them. She twisted round to see a mushroom cloud, consuming everything. "But I have fixed that. I have unleashed a cure even the Virus cannot survive. And now… to deal with the last piece."_

 _She released Dana, letting her fall away. Dana spun in the air, buffeted over and over again. The wind was great enough that she couldn't scream, no matter what. And all the while, the explosion was getting closer and closer._

 _She felt herself burning away. First her skin and clothes, then her muscles, and then her organs until she was nothing more than a skeleton. And still she burned with pain. She wanted it to stop. She wanted it to end._

 _And then the explosion met her, and her bones were shattered into dust._

* * *

Dana woke up with a start, panting like she just ran across the world without stopping. Her bedsheets were splayed around her, tangled around her legs. One hand was reaching towards the roof, grasping at air. Her whole body was covered in sweat.

She sighed, her head flopping back against the pillow. Dammit. It was just some stupid nightmare. Memories of shit that happened to her blending together into some fucked up world. And where the fuck did all the pain come from? Getting grabbed by the Leader Hunter and Alexandria had hurt, but what about the explosion? Where did all that come from?

"Miss Mercer? Are you alright?" Argus's voice filled the room. Not like it was deafening her, but in the sense that you couldn't tell where it came from. "Your heart rate increased dramatically, and you were thrashing in your sleep."

She waved a hand in front of her face. "Just a fucking nightmare, Argus. Humans get them sometimes. Weird shit that somehow got something to do with our greatest fears."

"I see." He paused. "Is there anything…?"

"Just ignore it. It was probably some one time bullshit. I just need a warm shower, some coffee, and a lot of chocolate. Then I'll be sweet again."

"Understood." Her drawers opened, thin arms growing to pull out clothing. "Will you be in civilian garb, or uniform?"

"I think uniform for now. Let people see me walking around. After we've had time to sort things out, _then_ I'll enjoy things like a normal person." Argus pulled out items that were slimmer, and she grabbed them on her way to her bathroom. The biomass in there resembled obsidian. Or dark marble. Whatever it was called. Lots of straight lines with curves on the corners. Growths hidden in the roof lit up with bio luminance, illuminating everything with soft light. Beasts under the floors, connected to pipes, were probably already heating their insides up. Ducts inside the shower started shooting water, steam starting to blossom and rise.

Before, she would've found it weird and creepy to be taking a shower inside something living, using water that's been passed through creatures. But now, it felt almost normal to her. So the building and water pipes were made from flesh instead of metal and wood. Big deal. She stripped off and hopped under the water, sighing as the warm water washed over her.

Sensors inside the shower kept an eye (probably literally) on her needs. The ducts shifted slightly, and the water sprayed out harder. Hard enough to knead the kinks in her shoulders and back.

"So Argus. What's on my schedule today?" She asked, grabbing a bar of soap and a sponge.

"Alex has requested to see you at 10 am about a new project he is working on. After that, you have a meeting with local dairy owners to discuss the price of our crops and what would be a fair average price for their stores. This will likely take until twelve, at which point you will be having a fancy lunch with wealthy homeowners interested in collaborating with the Pantheon, followed by at least three private meetings with Mr Stone, Mr Verruca, and Mr Grant." He paused. "According to city gossip, all three are well-known bachelors.

Dana made a face. "Probably want to get into my pants. Send them all a message telling them that before they try anything, my brother will brutally flay _anyone_ that upsets me. We'll see if they're still keen after hearing _that_."

"I'm fairly certain that Alex would brutally kill them if he ever knew they were asking you out in the first place, but as you say. Well then, that leaves you a couple of hours free before your meeting with Faultline this afternoon. Then you have a meeting with Themis at 4 pm to discuss mayoral electorates."

"Shit. I'm already feeling tired just from _hearing_ about all that." She sighed, washing off the soapy water. "Isn't there something I can unload on someone else?"

"That is everything you _can't_ delegate to someone else. Right now, you are the second most powerful and important person in Brockton Bay. Alex is too antisocial for people to approach about their problems; that just leaves you to deal with them."

"Goddammit." She groaned. "I'm gonna have a word with Alex." Her stomach growled. "But first, breakfast. And coffee. Get me as much coffee as you can." She stopped the shower, dried herself off, and dressed in comfortable clothes. Baggy jeans, midriff baring shirt, and socks. Then she pretty much stumbled her way to the dining room. Then, she stopped. And turned away, heading towards Alex's labs. Breakfast was going to take time. Might as well get her talk out of the way. Free up some space for her.

She hammered her fist against the large doors, an appropriate loud thump responding. "Alex!" She called out. "Get off your tentacled ass and help me sort out this city! I am _not_ dealing with this shit alone, ya hear me?!"

Alex's head and upper body melted out from the door, covered by his favourite hoodie. "Can't. Busy making adaptions in here. Get the Pantheon to help."

"I _am_. There's still a dozen shitty things that I _personally_ have to deal with. You publicly took over the city; it's your responsibility to rule it."

"I'm not interested in ruling. I just want people to stop taking potshots at us. Besides, I told you already that I'm busy."

"With what?" She crossed her arms angrily. "What could you be working on that's way more important than taking this work load off my shoulders and helping the city?"

"Creating more and faster ways to purify saltwater; ready-to-go bindings for broken limbs; prosthetics for amputees; testing what other materials I can convert into biomass to build more structures, roads, and the border walls; implementing Crawler's genetic enhancements into more defenders; trying to figure out how to get Alexandria's Shard."

"Hold on. What was that last one?" Alex melted back _into_ the door, and it unlocked for her; he always preferred to show than tell. She entered into his lab, which looked like a regular lab except for sacs for glass, biomass for walls, veins and nerves for pipes and wires, and a dozen strange experiments happening alongside each other. Over to one side were a series of pens, creatures scurrying around inside. One pen held crab-like Infected, a giant spike sticking out of their backs. Another one was filled ant-like insectoid things, their main bodies shaped like a bellow and covered in spikes. And the third set of creatures were bigger, with large mushroom-shaped bits stuck on top. They were covered in holes, each containing red pus eggs. She found the _real_ Alex standing over a table in the center of the room, light shining down on it. Strapped to the table was Alexandria, now bereft of all clothing. Dana still found it really cheesy that somehow Shards could give people the proportions of a comic book character. How did that even make sense?

Alex was currently pressing his hand to Alexandria's head, tendrils coating her skull like a cap. Her body twitched and jittered, but he obviously wasn't happy with his results.

"Oh, I get it now." She said once she was close enough. She looked back at the pens. "Nice walking turrets. Are they _supposed_ to be trying to get to the mushroom crabs?"

Alex looked up in confusion, eyes darting to the experiments. He growled. "Dammit. Some predatory instincts must still be showing. Have to breed that out." The turrets immediately melted into puddles of biomass, merging together into a clump in the middle.

"Those our new defenders?"

"Yes. It takes longer to change Hunters, Infected, and Razorwings into turret systems. If I try to change them too quickly, there can even be imperfections and dangerous mutations. This way, I don't have to alter them so drastically. And I can adapt them when I need to."

"You realise Blizzard's going to sue you, right? Hey, is there even a Blizzard in this world?"

"I don't actually care what a video game company thinks of me. They should actually be thankful; I'm turning their weird sci-fi fiction into real world fact." He pointed at the mushroom crabs. "Fact; it _is_ actually possible to create Swarm Hosts with an abundance of larvae. They just require nutrients from the ground. I loaded in some tree DNA to give them roots. And there's enough bug DNA that Taylor could hijack the Locust minds and direct them for me."

"She'll like that." Dana agreed. Turning away from the rip-off defenders, she looked down at Alexandria. "Sooo, you said you were _trying_ to get her Shard?"

He nodded. "She has the classic 'Superman' powers. Flight, strength, and a virtually indestructible body. Because of that, I can't do anything to her cells. They're just too well protected. It's like trying to eat away at metal."

"And the clothes? You _do_ realise that there's porn on the internet, right?" Alex glowered at her. He never _was_ a fan of humour.

"Her Shard generates a minute protective layer around her. Just enough to protect her clothing. Explains why she never shows up on TV half naked. I couldn't actually shred it, but it didn't stop me from removing the suit. And it's perfectly shreddable _away_ from her." The cap his hand was attached to shivered. Alexandria opened her mouth and started babbling in weird noises. "So I'm going for a different approach. Her mind is now braindead from having suffocated. Nothing's going on up there; just barely enough neural activity to keep her alive. I'm hoping that I could generate brainwaves strong enough to penetrate her skull and reach the brain itself, controlling the lobes from the outside. Get her to shut off her power long enough for me to consume her."

"And you think this because…?"

Alex reached for Alexandria's hair, tugging it straight out. Two blades grew from his wrist, sliced down on the hair. They just bounced on it. "Unless her hair and nails haven't changed since she first gained her Shard, she's got to have some means of trimming herself."

"You _could_ get Siberian's power back and carve her apart _that_ way."

"No good. It's just a projection of me. It doesn't actually have the same powers I do. And the Shard's in effect until it vanishes, meaning that by the time I could extract it, it'll be out of my reach. I _want_ this power so badly."

"So you're not going to help me rule this city you've conquered."

"No. I won't."

"Fine, you ass. I'll leave you with your freaky lab equipment." She smiled a little bit. "Reminds me of when we… When _Alex_ and I were younger. 'Alex, Alex. Could we go to the park? Not now Dana, I'm busy trying to figure out how to cure cancer and use that as my science project.' She shook her head. "Just don't forget; we've got that interview tomorrow. It'll look bad for us if our 'king' is late."

"I'll remember." He grunted. Knowing that there wasn't anything she could say to convince him, she turned around and headed back for dining. Mercifully, breakfast was ready and waiting.

She took a sip of her wonderful, delicious coffee… and stopped.

This wasn't her wonder, delicious coffee.

"Argus. What the hell is this?" She asked.

"Coffee. Like you ordered."

"No. No, no, no, no. This is _not_ coffee. This is that cheap shit you find at the supermarket. What happened to the Super Coffee we make? Why didn't you serve _that_?"

"Because we don't _have_ Super Coffee anymore. All our coffee beans were destroyed by the blast, and Alex hasn't made more yet. He's focusing on the essential produce we can make."

"Coffee is _very_ essential. _Very_. I can't go back to branded crap." She pushed the coffee away.

"I see. So does that mean you don't want your branded cereal either?" Argus asked dryly.

"No, keep that. I'm fine with cereal." Alex said something about how he couldn't 'grow' cereal. How it needed to be processed, and the processing plant was totalled. So until they got around to fixing it up, they'd have to do with dairy cereal. With dairy milk. And regular sugar.

So many things they could grow themselves, if only they had enough time. And Alex could draw himself away from his Shards. Maybe she could convince him to create a farm Evolved. She'd name it Demeter.

Ah, who was she kidding. It'll be Old MacDonald. And it'll know that song off by heart.

She gulped down the last of her breakfast, the biomass ceramic bowls growing legs and scuttling off to the tray for the kitchen. "So, Alex has Alexandria in his lab. He's trying to get her Shard out of her. Think _that_ was what he wanted to show me?"

"I'll ask him." Argus went silent for a moment. "It was. So that means you've got more time to talk to the dairy owners. Their union's meeting you in city hall."

Dana groaned. This was going to be a _loooonnng_ day.

* * *

Out in Brockton Bay itself, people were walking about. Despite the current upheaval, there were still some things that never changed. People still needed bread, still needed milk, still needed internet connections. The only thing they dared to complain about was the fact that the roads had been churned up to rubble; no car could get close to the city centre.

Not even any car belonging to the villains in charge.

A large all-terrain truck pulled up at the outer edge, their path barred by cracked ground and giant holes. The back opened up, and the truck jolted as several large creatures stepped out. Built like two-legged hunters and carrying spears, they quickly and efficiently formed an honour guard for Dana, escorting her everywhere outside the city. She was dressed in her suit, complete with helmet. Maybe once they had time for things to settle down, she'd go without it. But for now, anonymity was important. She yawned as their group headed through the shopping district, passing by stores that were still somehow open and places where the owners had quickly abandoned. There were plenty of other people wandering around, but they all kept as far away from her as possible.

Well, so would she if she spotted this kind of entourage.

"Motherfucker!" She heard someone swearing loudly. She started and turned towards the commotion, spotting a man inside an electronics store arguing with the clerk. She sighed. As the new leaders, it was kinda up to the Pantheon and their forces to break shit like this up. People might get the wrong idea otherwise. And besides, it meant that she had a _reason_ to not get to city hall early. She turned towards the store, and her guards turned with her. The first two crouched down and crawled into the shop, while the others waited outside. The shopkeeper went paler as he saw her approaching.

"Ok asshole, take a chill pill." She called out, standing with one hand on her hip. The customer turned around, still shouting but now at her. He went quiet as he realised _who_ he had insulted. One of her guards growled deeply. She held up a hand, and it stopped. "Whatever crap you're dealing with, it's way too early to deal with it. How about we try using our words like we're not fucking cavemen."

"This thief is charging me twenty-five hundred dollars for a thousand dollar computer." The customer said, pointing at the clerk. "I am _not_ paying a single cent more than what I got it before."

Dana gave the shopkeeper a look. The clerk looked embarrassed. "That's a bit much, isn't it? You really think you can charge a hundred and fifty percent more, just like that?"

"I have no choice. I _need_ to charge that much to recoup my losses." The shopkeeper tried to explain. He wiped his forehead, beaded with sweat. "Most of my stock was lost during Leviathan's attack. And the rest were fried when the bomb went off over… over your lair." He waved a hand at the nearly empty shelves. "What you see here is literally all I have left."

"Then call up your suppliers and get some more stock. Things might be difficult for a bit, but you'll probably get your money back enough to stay afloat."

"I've _tried_. I had some ordered weeks ago. But they never arrived. And everytime I've called since the takeover, I keep getting put through to machines every time I try to find out where they are."

Dana frowned. "So you've heard _nothing_ about your stock?" He shook his head. "What about a refund?" Another headshake. "So you haven't been put through to a single actual person?"

"Once. I managed to wait long enough for someone to answer. I started explaining my situation, but then they hung up on me." So, they were deliberately avoiding him. Question was, why? "I've got just enough for this month's rates, but then I'll barely have enough to eat. You're in charge; maybe you could waive the rates just this once?" He asked hopefully.

"Rates and stuff are Themis' area. But I'll have a talk with him about it." She turned away from them, heading out.

"Hey! What about me?" The irate customer asked. "Tell this crock of shit to give me the computer at its original price."

"I cannot give it to you any lower." The clerk reminded him.

"You heard the man; that's as low as he'll go. If you can't afford it, then I'm sure you can go a few days without your computer."

"This is bullshit!"

"Pro tip: life isn't fair. Get used to it." Swearing loudly, the man moved towards her. Whatever he was rearing to do must've been violent, because her guard roared and grabbed him with one hand, a loud crack filling the air. Then the man was thrown outside, skipping along the ground before slowly crawling away.

It was weird that a supplier would _actively_ screw their customers over like that. There wasn't any benefit to acting like a dick; yet this was obviously more than some clerical error. Maybe his suppliers didn't want to send stuff to a city that was hit by an Endbringer.

On a complete whim, she headed towards the nearest store still in business. Once again, her honour guard waited outside except for two. But since this roof was lower, her guards were even more cramped. Alex told her that pure Infected, like the Hunters and Hydras, couldn't change their shape as easily as Runners and Evolved. For them, they just kept growing and growing as they gained more biomass, sloughing it off to make smaller Infected if they absolutely needed to.

She found the manager, asked her a few questions. Are you getting stock delivered? Have you been able to reach your suppliers? What exactly are they saying to you? She asked at a few more stores, noticing a pretty blatant pattern happening.

No one was getting anything from their suppliers. Not stock, not money, not even an explanation.

Something wasn't right.

But then Noctua started chittering. Dammit; she was going to be late for her meeting at City Hall. Cursing, she decided against running herself and just signalled her guards. One of them got down on all fours, letting her onto its back before charging off like one of Bitch's dogs. They made it to City Hall easily, but it was still a close run thing. She slammed open the meeting hall doors and practically threw herself into her seat. Image was key here. She wasn't simply Dana Mercer anymore, hacker extraordinaire and caffeine-deprived woman. Now, she had to be Athena; Second in command of Mount Olympus, public face of the Pantheon, and all around badass bitch. She couldn't appear to be late; she had to appear to be in complete control. Her guards placed themselves around the room, standing to attention.

Barely five minutes after she got herself sorted, the union representatives arrived. They all started when they saw the guards, some of them looking ready to shit themselves. At the same time, Noctua informed her that the crops had been delivered.

She gave them a lazy smile, hiding how much her heart was beating. "Gentlemen. Ladies. Glad you could make it today. Don't mind my guards; getting kidnapped out of your own home tends to leave you a bit worried about your personal safety. Think of these fellows as being here to protect _you_. As long as you don't try anything." She motioned to the seats. After a couple of seconds of wariness, they all sat down around the table. "Now then, to business. You're interested in purchasing crops from us?"

The leader of the bunch nodded. He had a weathered look of being outside for too long. But he was also very large and muscular. "We've been hearing the rumours coming from Mount Olympus. You and Zeus have somehow created genetically enhanced fruit and vegetables that put everything else to shame. They're said to be bigger, fresher, and tastier than normal crops." The man leaned forward. "People have been going straight to the source; leaving everyone else selling less and less. The people we represent feel that helping us out is the least you could do, after doing this takeover."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves." A woman interrupted. She was taller and skinnier, mostly skin and bones. "All we have to go on are rumours. And there are fears and worries about genetically enhanced crops at the _best_ of times; let alone when they're altered by Tinker powers."

"It's not Tinker tech." Dana replied coolly. "We're just using our skills to make better food."

"Skills that involve bioweapons." The woman countered.

Right. Of course. Noctua picked up hundreds of stories about a link between Alex and bioweapons. Guess some members of the Protectorate wanted to let the truth come out. She discreetly swiped Noctua's screen. "So you want to know how much of our stuff is in our crops." Responding to her words, Noctua accessed Alex's Hive Mind for the info. And then started linking that to her own head, at a slow enough pace that she wasn't overwhelmed.

"Naturally. How exactly do you make these enhanced crops?"

Dana sat back, crossing her legs. "Simple actually. The 'bioweapon' is able to manipulate the genome with greater ease than current science can do; a lot like how Panacea heals people. All it's done is alter the vegetable DNA to select the best features. Larger size, better taste, more nutrients… All the things that people want in their food. They then transfer these enhancements into the seeds of the crops, allowing them to be planted and pass on their genes to the next generation. Only the initial crop had any Blacklight in it; the rest are perfectly clean. Cleaner than regular crops actually. Regular diseases can't survive against the gene." She waved a hand at the door. Linking to the Infected trolley on the other side, it opened the door and carried the crops into the room. "But if you're still not convinced that what we've got is greater, try a taste first."

Half of them tentatively reached out for the trolley, flinching at the sound of the crab legs clicking against the ground before randomly grabbing something from the pile. The other half refused outright, including the skeleton lady. Those that _did_ have food took small bites of them, savouring the taste. A few started taking deeper bites, obviously enjoying the bounty. She gave them some time to process everything.

"Well? Does it match up with what you've heard about us?" She asked them.

The leader responded. "It seems the rumours aren't _completely_ made up. But we will need time to discuss our feelings and thoughts on the matter."

Her heart sank. This was going to be a stupid game of back-and-forth. Both sides trying to get what they want out of this. Why couldn't she let someone with a degree in Business deal with this instead? Why did it have to be _her_?

But outwardly, she just gave a thin smile. "Sure. I'm sure we'll come to some agreement."

* * *

"…You're right, Ms Delilah. I _don't_ have a business degree. But I can smell bullshit, and that's exactly what this deal is." Dana said coldly.

Ms Delilah sat up straighter, looking down her bony nose at Dana. "It is a fair deal Athena. Any sound businessman would tell you that."

"Sixty percent of all profits go to your farmers, along with a crapton of testing and the ability to veto an entire crop if even _one_ is suspected to be bad? Sounds to me like _we're_ doing most of the work, and _you_ _guys_ get most of the profits."

"Your actions have nearly ruined us. Crops that were expected to cover our debts are rotting away in storage because everyone wants _yours_ instead. There are so many expenses when running a farm; you'd know that if Mount Olympus didn't cut corners."

"You call it cutting corners; we call it making life easier. That's pretty much why people build _anything_. Or are you saying that we should do everything by hand again? With ploughs tugged by bulls and all that old crap?" She glanced at her wrist; this meeting has gone on long enough. "Look, let's just cut the crap. Everyone here admits that despite how it was made and what's in it, our produce is the best around. You guys aren't really in a position to say no to us; not unless you want to go out of business. I'm proposing a forty percent cut for you guys, and we'll supply most of the hard work. Luckily, you don't have to agree right now. I'll give you guys a few days to talk this out." A few started grumbling, but a snap of her fingers made the guards bang their staves against the ground. "I'm sure you'd like to keep arguing, but I've got another meeting in ten minutes and I'm starving."

Ms Delilah was the first to stand up, watching Dana suspiciously. She turned and left in a huff, others joining her. Well, Dana didn't really give a shit. She was already tired and grumpy; another minute of arguing back and forth, and she might've ordered her head ripped off just to shut her up. The other leader of the union, Mr Fortuna, gave her a polite nod as he left. As soon as they all left, she groaned and leaned back in her chair, resting her feet on the table. A guard stepped in and supported her chair for her.

"Fuck me." Dana groaned. "Fuck this town, fuck politics, fuck being in charge, fuck, fuck, fuck." She so wanted to just dump this crap on Alex; but if _she_ could only _just_ resist killing someone, then he'd probably be knee-deep in corpses by now. "Fuuuuuccckkk." She drew the word out. Then she sat upright again, jumping out of the chair and heading for the door. At least the next meeting should be easier. Fancy meals and sycophants trying to get on her good side. Oh, she was going to have fun with them.

Even though they were having their lunch inside city hall, she was still late. Hopefully fashionably late, whatever that meant. The rich assholes were already seated and arranging their napkins when she entered. At least she _looked_ impressive, her guards arrayed around her in a square. They made sure she was seated before marching to stand by the walls, eyes roaming the room. The guests went still at their approach.

"Lady Athena. A pleasure." One of the guys – your standard cliché tall blond rich guy – said politely. She figured his name was Charles; He _looked_ like a Charles. "I trust we weren't interrupting anything _too_ …"

"Nope. Nothing important. Just some idiots whining." Dana interrupted. "Now, can I at least get some food before you all start kissing my ass? I'm starving."

Charles wrinkled his nose. "You're making this sound a bit vulgar."

"Doesn't make it not true. Isn't that why you organised this? So you could get on our good side, and see if we can help each other? I don't have the time or the inclination for fancy words. Might as well call it as it is."

Charles hesitated, but eventually signalled for the waiter to approach. "How very… blunt of you."

"I've spent all morning being diplomatic to a group of farmers and dairy owners. Two _fucking hours_ of being polite, and we barely got anywhere. I'm too tired and pissed to be nice anymore." A waiter quickly deposited a cup of coffee by her side. She took a deep drink of it. "So, what's there to talk about while we wait for lunch?"

A woman with blond hair made to resemble a piece of art spoke up. "Well, this might be a good time to point out our finer qualities. Things that made us the elite we are today…"

" _Or_ we could just get right down to business." A lanky man with an oily toupee said quickly. "That might be a better option."

Dana smiled. "Good thinking. So… what do you guys want generally, and what do you want in particular?"

Charles spoke up. "Well, obviously we had a beneficial relationship with Mayor Christner that made us wealthier. We were hoping to have a similar relationship with Zeus. There a so many things involved in running a city that we can't expect a major supervillain to have to deal with. And that's where _we_ come in."

Dana ran her finger around the rim of her mug. "So basically, you want to get important jobs that'll make you guys really important or rich. Or both."

"Well… Yes. Pretty much."

"Cool. In that case, you're all hired. Don't piss us off, don't be assholes to the civilians, and don't be corrupt. Follow those rules and regular laws, and you guys can do whatever." She snapped her fingers for a waiter, as the rich folks looked at each other in surprise. "You. Get me a map of the city."

"You're going to agree? Just like that?" The art lady asked.

"Well some of the good stuff is going to the parahumans that stuck around. But the way I see it, the more stuff I get to hand to others, the less shit I have to deal with." She was about to say more, but she felt Noctua vibrating against her arm. He only did that when her systems picked up something _incredibly_ important. She held her wrist up, and Noctua unfolded into a screen.

She only had to read the title of the article to understand the massive shitstorm before them. "Shit!" She cursed.

"Problems, Athena?" Oily guy asked politely. Probably wanted to try and get some more shit out of her 'incompetence'. Whatever. She didn't have time for that.

"Yeah. The Government's being a fucking asswipe." She said angrily, getting up. "I need to deal with it now. Mark on the map what it is you want to be in charge of, and hand it to administration. And save some food for me." She quickly left the room, her guards hurrying after her.

Fortunately for her, Themis was in his office. He was acting mayor, effective immediately and lasting indefinitely. He was in a suit, made from Blacklight to resemble a high quality material. Cost him nothing, and looked fancier than the suits the rich guys were wearing. He looked up as she entered his office. Her guards closed the doors behind her.

Themis put his pen down. "Athena. I thought our meeting wasn't due until 4. But if you're ready, I want to talk to you about upcoming elections."

"Don't have time for that Mathieu." She replied, unlatching Noctua and tossing him onto the desk. He immediately unfolded into a screen, showing the article that had her riled up. Made it big enough that they could both see it easily.

' _ **President Declares Embargo on Brockton Bay.'**_ It said. Mathieu grabbed Noctua by the screen, and he turned into paper; a newspaper version of the online article. He read the details quickly.

"I see. That _is_ a bit of a problem." He said.

"A bit? A _bit?_ They're trying to starve us! Make it so that it's illegal to buy or sell anything to anyone living in here! Because they're all fucking arrogant control freaks who can't accept that they fucked up and that _we're_ better than them."

"I think you are overreacting. And putting too much faith in us." He put Noctua down. "Now, about the elections…"

"Forget the fucking elections. We've got bigger things to worry about than who's sitting in your fat chair."

"On the contrary. This is just as important. Right now, people see us as effectively dictators of the city since we made me Mayor for Life. People will be upset at the principle of having their ability to choose taken away from them."

"They'll get over it. We need to come up with ideas about our money." Dana started pacing the room. "Those rich bastards in the dining room could shore up our expenses for a bit. And we can use Blacklight to replace some things. Maybe sell organic computers to businesses, and then have them sell to the people. Get some tax, use that to build more things…" She groaned. "But we'll need to find someone who can supply us. Unless Alex gets creative with what Blacklight can do…"

"Dana." Mathieu interrupted her. "Look at me. Look at my desk." She groaned, but did as ordered. The desk was an old-fashioned thing. Thick and heavy. Would probably break someone's toe if they kicked it. No, their whole foot. "What do you see that you are not expecting."

"I don't know. A regular guy becoming Mayor? Pens?" She squinted. "A laptop that looks pretty damn normal?"

"Correct. This laptop _looks_ normal because it _is_ normal. One of the few functional laptops still available off the shelves. Do you know why I use a normal laptop?"

She shrugged. "Because you're old-fashioned?"

"Because I do not want to use a living thing that _looks_ like a laptop. And I am not the only one, I'd imagine. People are fine with Blacklight being used for buildings, roads, and possibly clothes because it doesn't do anything else. It may change colours and styles, but for the most part what you see is what it will stay for the rest of its life. People are still wary of Blacklight; they will not accept it being used for _everything_." He sat back down. "I'd suggest getting in contact with the Black Market and have supply runs into the city. We will sort out sources of payment tomorrow. But right now, We _need_ to talk about…"

"Elections, elections, I get it. People are pissed because they didn't get a say in who's in charge. So what? Do they really think we're just going to leave because they're _unhappy_? Brockton Bay's ours now; if they don't like it, they can leave."

I'm sure those who stay accept that there's nothing they can do about us. But that doesn't mean they will take our choice of mayor without a fight. There will be protests; riots even."

"So what are you suggesting we do? Let them pick someone? What if they turn the city against us?"

"I am not saying that we just choose anyone to run for Mayor. I let the staff know that this will only be temporary; see if anyone took the bait. I have had at least three politicians come up to me, implying that they would _gladly_ support the Pantheon if we could make them Mayor." He waved a hand at his laptop. "I have been sent drafts for their policies and goals. We could put the list out, give people the chance to choose. That way, no matter who wins, we're still pulling the strings. And let's be honest here, none of us are politicians. They could make our jobs so much easier."

"Why do we even _care_? I mean, it's not like they'll be able to kick us out."

"We have to show them that we're not a group of Supervillains like the Government is telling everyone. If we act in a fair and just manner, then people will side with _us_."

Dana groaned. "Fucking hell. Whatever. Do what you want. I'm starving, I've got yet _another_ meeting to deal with, and I need to figure out how to fix this fucking mess. Fuck those assholes."

"And we've got that interview tomorrow." Mathieu added. "Maybe put the embargo aside for a day or two. We've got enough capital and food to last us a while. It's the non-essentials that we need right now. We can last a week or more. Getting around an embargo doesn't happen overnight."

Dana sighed. "I know, I know. It's just… it's just one more fucking problem I'll have to deal with." She looked Mathieu in the eye. "I'm delegating. I want _you_ to send out feeler, or whatever they're called. Get the word out that we're interested in dealing with other groups or something. You work out the details. I need to have lunch before I start murdering people."

Mathieu nodded. "Of course. I'll get right on that as soon as I sort out the elections."

"Now." She said firmly. Then she headed out of his office, heading back for lunch.

And her day _still_ wasn't over. Fuck.

* * *

It had been a _very_ long day by the time Dana returned to Mount Olympus. And she had practically enough of everything.

"Hold all my calls." She told Argus once she stumbled inside. One of her guards picked her up, carrying her in his arms. "Tell everyone I'm busy, and I don't have time for anything else. Actually, tell them that unless it's a fucking Endbringer, I don't give a flying fuck." Her guard dropped her gently into her room, closing the door behind him as he left. She immediately headed for the bathroom, her suit opening up and walking away. She hopped in the shower, and let the warm massaging water wash over her.

This was nothing like the comic books. They had all been about fighting and cool powers and good guys kicking ass. None of them ever pointed out the damn logistics and problems that ever came up when someone took over a city. Why did anyone ever _want_ to take over if they had to deal with this?

"Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." She repeated over and over. She stayed in that shower until her skin was all wrinkly. Then she put her casual clothes on, and flopped onto the bed.

"Dana? I know you said you were busy, but maybe we should go over what we need to do before the interview tomorrow." Argus said. Growling in anger and frustration, Dana pressed her pillow against her face, screaming into it. "Unless you want to leave this to Alex instead."

"No. _God_ no. Just… Just clean the place up. Have Alex seal up his lab. Tell people to be on their best behaviour. Anything else… Get Apollo to deal with it."

"Of course. I'll begin with the preparations."

"Good. Now… Wake me up… when… it's…" Her breathing slowed right down, and her body sagged. Her arm flopped to the bed as she fell asleep. Her covers unweaved themselves around her, reforming again on top of her.

Argus decided to let her sleep until tomorrow. There were at least seven matters that she had to deal with before the week was out, and she'd probably break under the strain. Once the interview was over, then maybe she'd feel better.

* * *

 **And there we go. There's probably a few things that don't quite mix, but that's what happens when you start writing, take a break that goes on forever, and then jump back in. To be honest, I've actually lost complete track of the timeline for these interludes. So I'm really just adding events where I feel they flow or fit best. So if you're wondering why an interlude happens earlier or later than it did in a** _ **different**_ **interlude, now you know.**

 **I wrote this mainly to show the things I felt one would have to deal with if they ever took over a city and weren't a complete monster looking to kill and steal everything. Obviously if you introduce a better version of anything, someone's going to complain about it stealing their business. People would be unhappy if they were told that so-and-so was the mayor, and to just deal with it. And of course, the easiest way for a Government to starve a captured city is to avoid trading with it. Mind you, they clearly forgot that Brockton Bay technically has a port.**

 **So obviously, the next chapter is the Interview. It's basically a chance for the Pantheon to answer questions and talk about Alex's origin story. And that gives me an idea. If you guys were actual people in the Wormverse, what kind of questions would** _ **you**_ **ask the Pantheon. Any questions at all.**


	20. Aftermath - Pantheon

**Chapter 20: Aftermath – Pantheon**

Dan Chris gulped, sweating profusely as he watched Mount Olympus from across the road. "This is a seriously bad idea." He said aloud. "We should've told them to shove this job."

His companion, Gretchen Lowe, spoke up from inside the car's boot. "No way. This is the kind of thing that makes someone's career, and I'm not letting it slip by. Can you _imagine_ the accolades I could get from this interview? An actual, genuine interview with the Pantheon. Finally, the world will get to see and know the real them. And Zeus… Well, every reporter worth their salt has been trying to figure out where he came from." She stood upright, applying more makeup to her face. She had gone with a professional look, wearing a suit and skirt that was _just_ tight enough to accentuate her figure. Her brown hair was done up in a styled bun. "This is a once-in-lifetime opportunity."

"Of course it is. Because your life is over once you pass through those gates. Have you actually _seen_ the kinds of monsters they've got in there?" One of the larger creatures looked up at them, and he crouched behind the car. It stared at them before leaving. "And now they know we're here. We're going to become dinner for those things."

"Dan, will you just relax already? They're perfectly safe. I think." Gretchen shook her head. "Look. People are walking around in there _with_ those things, and they're all fine. The Pantheon arranged this interview; therefore, they know we're coming. This isn't like trying to interview people like E3, or the ABB. They're civilised."

"So was Kaiser, and you wouldn't want to interview _him_." Dan retorted. Gretchen was about to bite back, but she noticed a bright light arcing from Mount Olympus.

"Something's coming. Grow a spine and get your camera on it. The studio wants _everything_." She said quickly, grabbing her microphone and fixing up her hair. Dan kept his eye on the bright light as it got closer, revealing a humanoid figure. As it landed, Gretchen noticed how the light faded, revealing sculpted physiques and armour. The head was covered by a sun image, bereft of any eyeholes. The man landed with a thump, and stood before them. There was a subtle sense of power in him.

"Our scouts observed you two watching us for some time now." The man said in a soft voice, his Asian accent evident. "Perhaps you could explain what you were hoping to see."

Gretchen gave him a charming smile, holding out one hand. "Gretchen Lowe, Channel 7 news. We're here for the interview at noon today."

"Ah. You are early."

"We wanted to see Mount Olympus before anyone tried to clean the place up for us. See how people are and all that. This _is_ supposed to show the real Pantheon to the world after all. We needed to just make sure of things."

"Of course. I understand." He gave her a short bow, hands pressed against his sides. "Apollo. I take it that your crew will be arriving shortly?"

Gretchen made a face. "As soon as they pluck the courage. But yes, they'll be here. We just have to get some of our equipment set up, assuming it's compatible with your stuff."

"We will find a way." He replied. Then he started, before looking down the road. Slowly, a van with the Channel 7 logo rounded the corner, approaching Mount Olympus. The guards at the gate moved away, waving it in. "And it seems that your team finally arrived. I will escort you to the throne room; Athena told me that was where the interview will take place."

"Thank you." Apollo bowed again, before heading towards the guards. Gretchen stopped just long enough to give Dan a look. He quailed, but was smart enough to follow her, camera roaming over the area. And she had to admit, it was a lot more normal than she imagined it to be. Sure, there were monsters roaming around the place, pulling trailers and cargo. But instead of the buildings and paths being made of some kind of meat-like moss, it all looked perfectly normal. Well, _almost_ normal, she amended, watching as several lizard creatures scurried out of houses. She nudged Dan towards them, and they watched as they headed towards a pit, where a large octopus creature was sitting behind it. The lizards crowded around the edge, apparently puking out something into the pit. Once they left, the octopus reached in, and started pulling out things. Metal things.

She got it now. That was the recycling system. The lizards probably spat out anything they couldn't eat, leaving the rest for this creature to deal with. Well, she guessed that was one way to deal with rubbish. They noticed that Apollo was getting away from them, and they had to hurry to catch up.

"Welcome to Mount Olympus itself." Apollo said, once they caught up to him. The entrance was wide open, revealing a long hallway into the base itself. "Please, make sure to follow the path. Not all areas of Olympus are open to the public, for various reasons." They walked along a blood-red carpet, the dark lighting making it almost blend with the black floor. "We were going for an imposing visage for anyone who attempts to invade. I trust it does its job well?"

"Oh yes. _Very_ imposing. But it's a bit too dark. I can't see a lot of details. Couldn't we get some light just to show off your architecture?"

"I'm sure we can do something." Apollo replied. The hall rippled with a fleshy scrabbling noise, and Gretchen looked up to see holes opening in the walls, letting light illuminate the walls. Though she wasn't much of an architecture lover, this place was definitely a good amount of ornate and spartan. Enough to look fancy, without going overboard or getting in the way. They reached another set of imposing doors, which opened into a shorter hallway. And beyond that was a circular room; the Throne Room itself. Where the rest of the Pantheon was gathering. Along with the camera crew.

"Tell that 'thing' to be careful." Their lead technician, Jeffrey, bellowed as a crab-like monster scurried past with camera in its clutches. "That camera costs more than anything else here. If it breaks, you can consider our careers over."

"It'll be fine." Athena replied, looking annoyed. She was standing to one side, alongside Zeus himself. Gretchen practically _ripped_ the camera from Dan's hands, pointing it towards the King of Mount Olympus. He wasn't the most physically imposing figure in the room, being slimmer and sleeker than Hephaestus and yet bulkier than Hermes. But there was just an aura about him that said 'I am the toughest thing in the room'. It made her think of the sheer presence that someone like Kaiser or Hookwolf had; something that you got just through sheer exploits.

Jeffrey huffed noisily. "I'd feel a lot better if we could use the spotlights we brought with us. At least _those_ I trust." A figure rose up from the floor beside him, the same dark colouring as the ground. His head was a smooth orb, and from the waist up he wore an old-fashioned butler outfit. But from the waist down, he was all tendrils and spines.

"There is no need to worry." The butler said, startling Jeffrey. "I am perfectly capable of creating spotlights of my own, along with changing the colour at will. I just need some technical know-how to have them situated best."

Jeffrey muttered something under his breath. "Just make sure the throne area is well-lit. No one's hiding under shadows or anything. And don't make it _too_ bright. The last thing viewers want is to get blinded." He walked away, shouting more instructions at his crew. The butler listened in, following after him. As Gretchen watched, several bulbous shapes pulled free of the ceiling, scurrying around. Their behinds lit up brightly, wings wrapping around them to direct the beams. A few changed colours, going from white to red to green to blue before returning to normal. One unlucky fellow was handing out the microphones to the Pantheon. Luckily, most of them seemed pleasant and jovial. Hephaestus was joking around with two technicians, telling them some story. When he received one, his armour seemed to become slick. He dropped the mic in like a stone into water, before making it rise up in other places. His elbow, his neck, his pecs, and even from his knee. But then he stopped goofing off, making it appear on his chest.

Finished with her talk, Athena approached the two of them. "Gretchen Lowe? Glad to finally meet you." She said warmly, shaking her hand. "I'm so glad you came."

Gretchen gave her the award-winning smile. "It's a pleasure to be here Athena. A chance to interview a… prestigious group like yours doesn't come around often. I hope you don't mind us taking footage of the insides."

"Eh, it's nothing. I found your report on Gavel to have been pretty awesome."

Gretchen blushed in embarrassment and pride. "That old thing? I'm actually a little embarrassed by it. Having permanent footage of you being arrested isn't good for your career."

"Bullshit. You only got arrested because you were asking questions the Protectorate didn't want answering. That's actually why I chose you."

"Really? So you and the rest of the Pantheon are aware that I'm not going to avoid a question just because it might be sensitive?"

"I just made Alex aware of that." Gretchen immediately picked up on that slip.

"Alex? Is that Zeus' _real_ name?" She asked excitedly.

"Kind of. It's the name he chose for himself. It'll probably be better to wait for the interview to ask."

"Oh. Right. Of course." She looked at the crew prepping the area. It looked almost ready. The Pantheon was already moving for their thrones, the chairs changing shape and position to accommodate them.

Athena puffed out her cheeks. "Excuse me. I just need to get these idiots presentable." And she walked off. She was grabbing each member and forcing them to sit up straight, telling them off and positioning them, Zeus following her like a shadow.

At long last, everything was set up correctly. The lights were shining down on the throne area, with works of art rising from behind each throne representing their 'god'. Gretchen had a chair for herself, along with two others for their special guests that had arrived during the set-up period. A table stood by, water bottles sitting on it. Store-bought ones, unfortunately. Though she honestly wasn't sure how she'd feel about ones they 'made'. Gretchen sat down in her seat, make-up applying the last few touches.

"Alright people!" Jeffrey shouted. "Going live in three… two… one…"

* * *

 _(Jaunty news music starts playing as the channel 7 logo forms on screen to say 'Channel 7 News presents'. Logo vanishes to show a red screen.)_

 _(_ _ **Announcer**_ _): Once, his greatest claim to fame was managing to successfully rob the Brockton Bay Bank and elude rising star Glory Girl. But it didn't take long for him to rack up a sizable reputation for brute strength, adaptation, and ability to plow through anything in his path. (Screen shows newspaper clippings, all about the exploits of Blacklight.) And after Leviathan struck the city, he only rose further than ever. (Picture of the old mall, being modified into Mount Olympus.) But now that he's taken over an entire city, the world sits with baited breath, wondering what will he do next. And experts are busy scratching their heads, trying to find_ _ **any**_ _clue as to who this rising villain was before. Now, Channel 7 has found the answers. In a live interview with Mount Olympus itself. Tonight we present an exclusive talk, on… (Screen changes to a picture of Zeus, half his body filled in black and with question marks.)_ _ **Gods of Olympus: The Mortals Behind the Myths**_ _._

 _(Cut to Mount Olympus Throne Room, the camera panning over the members of the Pantheon as bombastic music plays. Then it cuts to show Gretchen Lowe, who smiles at the camera.)_

 _(_ _ **Gretchen Lowe**_ _): Welcome everyone, to an_ _ **exclusive**_ _live interview inside the very heart of Mount Olympus. I am your host, Gretchen Lowe, and with me are special guests Dr Nicholas Flert, an expert on psychological behaviour, and Professor Ryan Jones, a leading expert on Parahumans. And of course, we have our_ _ **very**_ _special guest, the Pantheon. (Cut to Pantheon, some of who give a quick wave of acknowledgement.) We will be hosting a Q &A session, where nothing will be kept secret. And our first questions are for the King himself, Zeus.)_

 _(_ _ **Zeus**_ _): A pleasure._

 _( **GL** ): Now, obviously the most pressing question right now is what do you have planned for Brockton Bay, and the world? Should American citizens be worried about an invasion of their cities? Will you be declaring yourself Lord of the World? And should people be afraid of you in general?_

 _( **Z** ): Wow. What a way to start. I suppose I should answer them in order then. Let's see; For Brockton Bay, our plans are to fix up the most damaged areas, clean up the rubbish and refuse lying around, fix up the roads, deal with crime, get the schools open again… (Glances at Athena.)_

 _( **Athena** ): Start up import and export, create jobs… Really now, whatever we need to do to get Brockton Bay back on its feet. Protectorate and the PRT were too busy chasing bad guys to actually get anything done._

 _( **Z** ): Yeah. That stuff. As for the world… *bleep* off. That's what I have to say. You don't piss me off, I'll leave you alone. But you start anything, threaten this place and my work… And then I'll rip you all limb from *bleep*ing limb. As for the rest of the questions… No, no, and probably._

 _( **GL** ): Probably? You mean that people __**should**_ _be afraid of you?_

 _( **Z** ): I'm a living weapon. If you're not afraid of me, then either you're someone I like, or you're insane._

 _( **GL** ): I see. (Turns to Nicholas Flert.) Dr Flert, as an expert of psychology, do you have anything to say about what we've heard about already? Knowing that you have express permission to voice anything in here?_

 _( **Nicholas Flert** ): Well, with that kind of freedom, I __**have**_ _noticed something already. Zeus, I have noticed that you have many of the signs of antisocial personality disorder. Do you believe me to be wrong?_

 _( **Z** ): No, you're right. I am, by definition, a sociopath. I have an inability to emphasise, sympathise, or respect others. As you've already realised, I also have a disregulated temper, and I have lashed out at anything that I feel deserves my anger. However, there are a few things about me that disrupt the list you're already going down inside your head._

 _( **NF** ): How did you…?_

 _( **Z** ): I don't bother manipulating people, and deceiving them is in my very biological nature, much like how __**you**_ _need to walk on two legs. I don't have charm, and I am not arrogant. My thoughts on others exclude them unless I believe them to be a threat or potential ally. My thoughts on morals, social norms, and the effect on others are less a disregard and more primal and animalistic. And while I am bad at_ _ **starting**_ _relationships, I tend to be able to at least hold one of them; the opposite on projected behaviour of someone with antisocial personality disorder. (Z looks directly at NF) I have extensive knowledge on psychology. I don't need a shrink analysing me, because my behaviour doesn't exactly fall under human psychological behaviour._

 _( **GL** ): Gentlemen, we're getting slightly off track here. Though are you implying that you were a psychiatrist before?_

 _( **Z** ): Part of me was._

 _(GL pauses.) ( **GL** ): Maybe we should move onto __**another**_ _pressing question. Your origin and what caused you to gain your parahuman powers. (Z stares at her.) Athena said we could get answers to_ _ **any**_ _questions we ask. As a sign of transparency._

 _( **Z** ):… Should've vetoed that. But alright. Doesn't really matter to me. Ask away._

 _( **GL** ): Wonderful. Now, I overheard Athena calling you Alex. That __**is**_ _your name, right?_

 _( **Z** ): It's the name I prefer the most. Alex Mercer._

 _( **GL** ): Thank you Alex. Now, where are you from?_

 _( **Z** ): New York, State of New York, USA. But don't bother looking for anyone who knows me. They're a few worlds away._

 _( **GL** ): A few worlds? So you're from another world, like Earth Aleph._

 _( **Z** ): Not there, but yes._

 _( **Ryan Jones** ): Sorry to interrupt, but are you saying that your Earth also has super powers? Including the ability to send a physical object from one world to another?_

 _( **Ath** ): Nope. Nothing. Super powers are just make believe back home. All __**we've**_ _got in technology._

 _( **RJ** ): I'm sorry Athena, but what you're saying is impossible. Without Tinker work, what Zeus does is impossible with normal technology._

 _( **Ath** ): If it makes you feel any better, it's supposed to be impossible back home too._

 _( **RJ** ): So if __**I**_ _say it's impossible, and_ _ **you**_ _say it's impossible, then are you saying he gained his powers when he arrived here? And if so, how did you both_ _ **get**_ _here in the first place?_

 _( **Ath** ): Maybe you should let us talk before bombarding us with stupid questions. (Looks at Zeus.) Try to keep it short and sweet. They don't need to know everything._

 _( **Z** ): Fine. (Looks back at GL. Mask melts away to reveal pale face. Upper half hidden in shadow from hood.) Scientists here have already found out that Earth Aleph and Bet share similar histories until one single event changed everything. It's the same for us. Our world – let's just call it Earth Delta – had pretty much the exact same history until about fifty years ago. Scientists discovered an unknown organic lifeform that showed similarities to viruses. And then they did was scientists always do with something unknown. They tested it._

 _( **GL** ): How did they test it?_

 _( **Z** ): On chimpanzees. They were expecting… I don't know what. But it definitely wasn't what actually happened. The Virus – Codenamed Carnival 1 – __**enhanced**_ _the chimps. Made them faster, smarter, tougher, stronger, and more resilient. Everything you'd want to make a human perfect. And so they decided to up their tests. Created a little town in Idaho called Hope, and had hundreds of people brought out under the guise of testing for self-sufficiency in the event of Nuclear War. Carnival 2 was administered under the pretence of safely simulating fallout. But once they administered it… nothing. No outward or inward signs of any changes. Hell, the only actual evidence it was even there was in the stillbirths._

 _( **GL** ): I'm sorry. Did you say __**stillbirths**_ _?_

 _( **Z** ): Carnival 2 was trying to evolve them while they were still developing. It went pretty much like trying to build a bridge as someone's driving on it. Their DNA was twisted beyond hope, and all the babies born during the testing period died from mutations. I could show you, if you want._

 _( **Ath** ): Let's not Alex._

 _( **Z** ): Ok. So eventually the project was written off as a failure, and the scientists were to pack up. The town was to be left alone since it served its purpose. But as they left, they realised their biggest mistake._

 _( **RJ** ): Leaving an unknown viral lifeform unchecked?_

 _( **Z** ): That, and underestimating it. They didn't realise that the Virus was capable of actual intelligent thought. It could recognise probing, identify when it was no longer being watched. As soon as the scientists left, it activated. Almost everyone in town died within two months. Coming back as Infected. (Z points off to one side, and a zombie creature rises from the floor. It snarls and growls before sinking again.) A zombie apocalypse on crack._

 _( **GL** ):… You said that __**almost**_ _everyone died. How many people survived?_

 _( **Z** ): One, technically. A young woman named Elizabeth Greene. And the only reason she 'survived' was because of Junk DNA._

 _( **GL** ): For our audience, could you explain what Junk DNA is?_

 _( **Z** ): The human body is made up of DNA. It makes up every little detail about their bodies. But a very tiny amount of your DNA does nothing. It doesn't mesh together, therefore it doesn't have any effect on your body. Scientists think it's either redundant DNA, or just flaws you'd expect from combining 10 trillion cells with billions of DNA. But whatever it is, some Junk DNA inside Greene reacted to the Virus. Altering it; causing it to evolve. What that basically meant was that instead of a corpse being driven by the Virus, you had a person made completely of it, with the intelligence of a human._

 _( **RJ** ): You're saying that Greene was 10 trillion viruses bonded together in the shape of a human being?_

 _( **Z** ): And replicating her neural pathways. And she was also pregnant at the time, so the baby became the first __**successful**_ _mutated birth._

 _(Ath leans over.) ( **Ath** ): Alex._

 _( **Z** ): But that's not important. So anyway, after the military wiped out the town and found Greene, they took her to a lab and started studying her. Finding out how this was possible. And when they realised how dangerous the Virus was – How dangerous __**Redlight**_ _was – they decided to turn it into a weapon._

 _( **NF** ): __**Excuse me?!**_ _They lost an entire town to a virus they didn't fully understand, and after it mutated they decided to try and use it_ _ **again**_ _?_

 _( **Z** ): They also wanted to improve it. Make it far more dangerous than before, and __**maybe**_ _make it controllable. So they started up a company called Gentek, and started recruiting the best minds they could find. Including a young, brilliant scientist by the name of Alexander Mercer._

 _( **GL** ): The name __**you**_ _use._

 _( **Ath** ): My __**original**_ _brother._

 _( **Z** ): Mercer did better than anyone else on the project. He managed to improve the virus, making it even __**more**_ _lethal by having it induce more drastic changes in the host body. Basically kills you with shock and exertion. At any other morally-deprived company, that would've gotten him to the top._

 _( **GL** ): You make it sound like it didn't._

 _( **Z** ): Someone on the project grew a conscience, and tried to tell the media what Gentek and the Government was up to. But the military branch of the project, Blackwatch, silenced him. Afraid of any other security leaks, they decided to off all non-essential personal aware of Blacklight. Which meant everyone except for the CEO._

 _( **GL** ): I can't imagine you were happy about this._

 _( **Z** ): No. Mercer wasn't. (Looks at NF.) Mercer ticked all the boxes for antisocial personality disorder. What do __**you**_ _think he did?_

 _( **NF** ): Well this is just a theory, but he most likely would've done everything he could've to survive._

 _( **Z** ): Good answer. When he found out, he stole a sample of Blacklight and ran off for Penn Station. Blackwatch cornered him there, and he threatened to unleash Blacklight. They tried to call his bluff… and failed._

 _( **GL** ): You didn't._

 _( **Z** ): __**He**_ _did. Mercer unleashed Blacklight – unleashed_ _ **me**_ _– upon tens of thousands of innocents. All because he felt the world had *bleep*ed him long enough. A part of Blacklight found his cooling corpse, latched onto him, evolved… and then woke up in a morgue with amnesia and thinking it was him._

 _( **GL** ): That piece… That's you, isn't it?_

 _( **Z** ): Now you get why I call myself Alex Mercer, and why I consider him and me two different people. I may be bad, but the original was __**worse**_ _. (Glances at Ath.) Only got in contact with his sister when it was convenient for him._

 _( **RJ** ): So what you're saying is that your power comes from your biology. Like a bio Tinker's creations._

 _( **Z** ): I guess you could say that._

 _( **GL** ): I see. Thank you for sharing to the world Alex. Now, I think we've given enough time to get some questions from our viewers. Let's have a look. (Opens up a tablet, scrolling down a list.) Ok, first question. Zeus, what exactly is your position in Mount Olympus and Brockton Bay if you're not the Mayor?_

 _( **Z** ): King, I guess. I'm not interested in political power. I just wanted people to get out of my face._

 _( **GL** ): Second question. If you wanted to be left alone, why not just steal a crapton of money and relocate somewhere else under a new identity?_

 _( **Z** ): It wasn't __**just**_ _about being left alone. The Protectorate tried to kill us. Tried to kill everyone under my protection. Kidnapped my sister. I was angry, vengeful, and I wanted to kill them all for that. Taking over was the logical next step. A safe haven for us. There's no way they could justify blowing up everyone in Brockton Bay._

 _( **GL** ): I see. Third question, this time for the Pantheon. What did it feel like joining, both physically and emotionally?_

 _(Hermes throws his arms into the air.) ( **Hermes** ): About *bleep*ing time! I was starting to feel like this was the Zeus and Athena show. Becoming a god felt awesome!_

 _( **Apollo** ): Physically, becoming an __**Evolved**_ _was painful. Zeus had told us it would hurt. He said that his gene was effectively killing us and then bringing us back to life. And that was how it felt. Emotionally though, I do not regret it. I have the strength needed to help others. We may have to kill, but we can at least ensure it is only those who deserve it._

 _( **Hephaestus** ): What he said. And the perks are worth it. No pain, no gain._

 _( **Hestia** ): Before I evolved, I used to be teased a lot. Kept being called butch, ugly, disgusting, and a lesbian. I see this as a way to change how I look without getting weaker. Sure, pigs hit on you. But that's so much easier to deal with._

 _( **GL** ): Thank you for sharing. The next question is about whether or not you'll deal with S-Class threats? After all, you __**did**_ _kill off Slaughterhouse 9._

 _( **Z** ): They came after me and tried to get me to join, threatening Athena to break me. That's why I killed them. I'll treat the rest like I'm treating the world; mess with me, and I __**will**_ _kill you. Leave me alone._

 _( **Artemis** ): What about the Endbringers? Everyone knows that you were the one who smacked around Leviathan. How much harder could the others be?_

 _( **Z** ): I was lucky that time. He obviously wasn't expecting me, and there's a lot of problems that can be solved by throwing a several story fire-breathing regenerating monster at it. Dealing with him – and the others – will need planning. Behemoth's able to generate temperatures that my creations wouldn't be able to survive for long without regenerative powers. Maybe if I used Crawler's power, I could eventually adapt them to survive a length of time against him. Or I could just find an invincibility power and use that. As for Simurgh… No. Never. Not going to happen._

 _( **RJ** ): So you're saying you're scared of her. That you'd run from her._

 _( **Z** ): Yes. For the same reason everyone else runs. It's not her physical abilities I'm worried about. It's what happens __**afterwards**_ _I'm scared of. Everyone who stays near her for too long breaks, and then they help break something bigger. Mannequin was one such person. He heard her song, his family died, and he went from possibly saving the world to becoming a mass murderer. Now imagine what would happen if the Virus was to hear that. Or me. Events could happen that end with me ending the world. The bigger we are, the more the world shakes when we fall._

 _( **GL** ): I… You're perfectly right Zeus. I suppose we should go to the next question. There's one here about the criminals in the Birdcage, but I guess we already know your answer to __**that**_ _._

 _( **Z** ): They'll never let me in. All that power potentially at my disposal would be terrifying._

 _( **GL** ): Of course. So the next question is… a series. From one person. (Z waves a hand.) First off; what is the requirement to join the Pantheon?_

 _( **Ath** ): I'll answer that one. First, you need to be a legal citizen of Brockton Bay. Luckily, that just means having a listed residence and the right paperwork. Then, Alex and I look at all the people in the city, and use their records to decide whether they've got the right temperament. You don't want to hand this kind of power to a psycho._

 _( **Z** ): That should only happen __**once**_ _._

 _( **Ath** ): And finally, we have to be unanimous about our choice. Alex has the ability, but I'm better at reading people. We can *bleep*block each other, or we can agree._

 _( **GL** ): Second question; how do you move to Brockton Bay?_

 _( **Ath** ): Just show up at our border. A lot of people left, so we've got lots of room still. Just know that any criminal activity will be dealt with harshly, depending on how bad it is and how pissed off Alex is._

 _( **GL** ): Zeus, did you know that there is currently a cult worshipping you and Blacklight? Saying that you are a real god that will evolve mankind to perfection?_

 _(Z sighs.) ( **Z** ): Yes, I am aware of them. I think they're being stupid, but I guess it's better than believing in some dark god that will destroy everything or some weird shit like that._

 _( **GL** ): And what do you think of that?_

 _( **Z** ): I already said I think it's stupid. I'm not actually a god; I just call named myself after one for a theme. And I've read how this'll go. They'll start hanging onto my every word and seeing philosophical nonsense in every syllable, something that'll mean something to them. Then they start misinterpreting what I say, or twist my words to match their beliefs, or even just put words in my mouth to justify their own hatred and bigotry. Then they start holy wars, and I get all the flak for it. It's a shit deal._

 _( **Ath** ): But as long as they don't do any of that shit, and __**definitely**_ _don't try to_ _ **force**_ _people to evolve, what then?_

 _( **Z** ): I don't know. I guess they could keep worshipping and get some hokey 'blessing'. I just don't want problems because of belief._

 _( **GL** ): Thank you for your honest opinion. Last question in that series… (GL blanches.) Have you… Have you ever been in a relationship. As in..._

 _( **Z** ): As in romantically. (Z glowers at the camera.) No. Next question._

 _( **GL** ): Let's see… Ah, here's an important one. How do you control your creations, and make them safe to be around civilians?_

 _( **Z** ): Blacklight has a hive mind. Every Infected and Evolved are connected to it, spreading across the city and beyond if need be. As a Runner – the Queen of the Hive, if you will – I am the sovereign intelligence in control of Blacklight. Their thoughts are my thoughts. The Infected obey my every will. They can't disobey me anymore than you could disobey your own thoughts._

 _( **GL** ): But with people like Regent out there, what's to stop people from breaking that connection?_

 _( **Z** ): It doesn't work like that. Regent can affect your nerves. He doesn't get into your mind so much as steal your body from under you. We already know his power isn't as effective against me or my Infected. He might make them stumble, but the time it would take for him to take full control would be more than enough for me to walk to his lair, redecorate his walls, eat all his food bit by bit, watch a movie on his TV, all before ripping his head off and heading off. That is assuming I don't just turn that Infected into myself._

 _( **GL** ): Informative. Now, what made you decide to be a villain? (Ath looks around nervously.)_

 _( **Z** ): Athena. Suggested I should be a villain._

 _(Turns to Ath.) ( **GL** ): Is this true?_

 _( **Ath** ): We needed money. We didn't exactly get to your world with money in the bank. I was stuck living in abandoned buildings for the first week. It was Alex's idea to rob the bank. But we needed more, so he robbed the Mayor's place. And by then, he was known to the PRT._

 _( **GL** ): You __**could**_ _have gone up to them, done community service, and be placed under probationary service with the Protectorate._

 _( **Ath** ): Look at his powers. Look at his personality. Alex forms weapons from his body, is a walking bioweapon, prefers to murder his problems in messy ways, acquires knowledge by eating people's brains, and is pretty much a walking freak show. It would've only been a matter of time before either the Protectorate had enough of him, or they pushed him too far and he killed them all. At least as a villain he gets to use his skills. That, and as someone who's only seen powers in comic books, being a villain sounded kinda fun. The cool outfits and powers, the sweet bases, the nice gadgets… It was like a dream._

 _( **NF** ): And the fact that you were unleashing a monster on the city meant little to you._

 _( **Z** ): I would've probably killed someone anyway. I thought you would've understood that by now; I started off as a sociopath, and consider just beating someone to a pulp to be an improvement. Shadow Stalker is a lot like me; violent and aggressive. If they forced her to use non-violent force, then they would've restricted me just as much. And unlike Shadow Stalker, they would've been hard-pressed to make me obey without pissing me off instead. (Z shrugs.) Besides, I don't really think of myself as a villain. I just do what I want and take what I need._

 _( **NF** ): By definition, that makes you a villain. (Looks at RJ.) Does it not?_

 _( **RJ** ): Current legislation __**does**_ _agree with you. Your use of violence and force marks you as a villain to the public in general. Stating otherwise doesn't make it true._

 _(Z shrugs again.) ( **Z** ): Then I'm a villain. Whatever. Cling to names and titles if it makes you feel better. At my way's simpler._

 _( **Ath** ): Maybe we should move to another question._

 _( **Her** ): Maybe something that's about __**us**_ _instead of the… (Her suddenly falls silent.)_

 _(GL clears throat.) ( **GL** ): Right. We have another set of questions from the same person. It's about your ability to use powers that others had before you. Is the ability to replicate powers part of your skillset?_

 _( **Z** ): You could say that. I don't actually replicate their powers. That's impossible, even for me. I simply use the hypothesis of a physical source._

 _( **GL** ): And that is…? (Looks at RJ.)_

 _( **RJ** ): Some willing parahumans allowed some examinations to be carried out, along with a recording of any and all side effects they noticed. One side effect that came up multiple times was that a parahuman would describe an almost physical presence in their mind. As if they were a conduit for something else. Of course, autopsies of deceased parahumans found no sign of anything having been lodged in their cerebral. The hypothesis has always been merely theoretical._

 _( **Z** ): Well, I confirmed it. When I consumed Bakuda and added her mass and memories to my own, I found something alien attached to her memories. It escaped before I could capture it, but after a few theories and ideas I managed to assimilate new powers from two minor parahuman villains. It's not actually physical though. It's… I'd have to call it an interdimensional entity, even though that should be ludicrous._

 _( **RJ** ): Do you have any idea how it works through the host? Or how it chooses them?_

 _( **Z** ): It's drawn to traumatic memories. By isolating and implanting those memories into one of my Evolved or myself, I can link up to that Shard and draw on its power._

 _( **GL** ): So, you only have peoples' powers because you ate them._

 _( **Z** ): Yes. But it only works if they get them within a second of them dying._

 _( **GL** ): So what about the parahumans based in your territory? Should they be worried that you might decide to nom on their brains and get their powers?_

 _( **Z** ): Not as long as they follow my rules. I'm not going to kill people just because I want their powers for myself. I'm fine with those powers working for me as they are._

 _( **GL** ): So you won't threaten them or their families?_

 _( **Z** ): No. How many times do I have to say it? (Z waves his hand.) Just give me the next damn question._

 _( **GL** ): A question about your Endbringers._

 _( **Z** ): The Titans? Are they wondering how I made them?_

 _( **GL** ): That, and where are they?_

 _( **Z** ): They're dispersed amongst my forces. The stronger Infected are a lot like me; trillions of viral cells making up the shape and form of an organism. The Titans are the same; just bigger and with more mass. Right now, I was banking on the fact that no one would be dumb enough to try anything so soon to protect my territory. So I separated my Titans into the army of Infected going around the place. But make no mistake; I can reassemble them just as easily. They're still here; they're just scattered._

 _( **GL** ): Of course. Thank you for answering those questions. (Looks down at her screen.) What would you do if – for example – members of your religion deposed the council of a city and captured it in your name? What would happen then?_

 _( **Z** ): I'd kill every member of my 'cult' inside the city. And then assuming the Government doesn't start bombing it, I'd hand it back over. That would be exactly the kind of shit that would piss me off._

 _( **GL** ): Well, that's comforting. Now, this question is about the Embargo on Brockton Bay…_

 _( **Z** ): That's Athena's area. She's got plans._

 _( **Ath** ): Plans that I don't want to spill in case the Navy decides to piss all over them to try and *bleep* us over. All I'll say is that it involves the port, but anyone with a brain could've figured that out. (Ath stretches in her seat.) Maybe we should take a break._

 _( **GL** ): Agreed. We'll be right back after these messages._

 _( **Announcer** ): Stay tuned. __**Gods of Olympus**_ _will return momentarily._

 _(Screen shows Channel 7 logo.)_

* * *

 _(Screen shows Channel 7 logo.)_

 _( **Announcer** ): We now return to this exclusive peek into the heart of Mount Olympus._

 _(Cut to Gretchen Lowe, now standing outside an ordinary suburban house. Athena is standing with her.)_

 _( **Gretchen** **Lowe** ): And welcome back. It's certainly a lovely looking home, isn't it? Hard to believe that this property is still within Mount Olympus itself, and is in fact made up entirely of Blacklight. (Opens the door and enters the house. Inside, it resembles a perfectly normal home, complete with lights, windows, and a TV.) Athena, you were telling me that there are advantages to having a house made from Blacklight instead of regular materials. Could you perhaps explain for the audience?_

 _( **Athena** ): Sure. Well the first advantage is how quick it is to put these things together. With a regular home, you have to get the wood, chop the wood, apply the walls and the wires and the plumbing and… well, even with Infected it would take a lot of time to build a normal house. But with Blacklight, you just give it the plans for a house and enough material, and it just grows. Simple and easy. Another advantage is waste disposal. (Heads over to the kitchen area.) Normally, you'd have to load a bag with rubbish and leave it out for the garbage men to pick up. But here, you don't have to worry about that. (Taps at her wrist. A cupboard opens, and a creature scurries out. Fused to its back is a rectangle.) Once it gets full, the house takes the trash out for you. It used to be that the house would __**eat**_ _the garbage for you, but people felt a bit nervous about that. And it can't digest everything that gets thrown out._

 _( **GL** ): Understandable. But what about electricity? What do you do if you want to work your TV?_

 _(Athena walks over to the TV, the cord unplugged. She taps at her wrist again, and a different creature rises from the floor. Athena crouches down at pets it.) ( **Ath** ): Alex based this little guy on the electric eel. Scientists have found that they can actually power small things, but only for a short while. Since Infected are practically perpetual motion beings, they can produce the electricity longer and at a far greater output than eels. So we use them as generators. Simply grab the cord, (Does so) plug it into the guy – we're going directly to the source here - (plugs the cord into a socket-shaped mouth), and bang. (TV turns on.) Simple._

 _( **GL** ): So they don't need nourishment?_

 _( **Ath** ): Alex says they don't. They're not interested in food for eating; they normally just want more biomass to expand and grow. Alex could run across the US without stopping for food if he ever felt like it. And when your main meal appears to be people, you can understand why he doesn't eat much._

 _( **GL** ): Er… Yes. So, are there any __**other**_ _advantages to a Blacklight house?_

 _( **Ath** ): Well, it's easier to redecorate. (Pulls out a red sheet of paper.) No need for paint or bashing down walls. (She places the paper against the wall.) Copy colour. (Walls starts turning red, spreading out from paper. Within a minute, all the walls are red.) Easy._

 _( **GL** ): Huh. That __**is**_ _easy. Certainly takes the stress out of redecorating. (Athena's wrist starts beeping.)_

 _( **Ath** ): Uh, maybe you should go onto the next bit without me. Something's just come up._

 _( **GL** ): Certainly. (Leaves the house.) Our next stop is with what is apparently the unofficial science division of Mount Olympus. We're not entirely sure what they're doing, but they appear to be studying Blacklight itself, with Zeus' permission of course. Athena arranged a meeting with the head of the team, Doctor Bradley Ragland. (They stop by an African-American, dressed in a lab coat and watching the team of scientists set up inside a cordoned off area.) Doctor Ragland? Do you have time for a few questions?_

 _(Bradley Ragland turns around, looking surprised.) ( **Bradley** **Ragland** ): Ah, Miss Lowe. Sorry; lost track of time. I would be happy to answer some questions for you. (Turns back to the team.) Johns! (A man with a slight potbelly, sickly skin, sunken eyes, and short brown hair looks up.) Keep an eye on the team for me. I need to take care of something. (The young man nods, barking orders. BR turns back to GL.) My assistant, Conor Carrion-Johns. Good man, wonderful mind._

 _( **GL** ): Doctor Ragland, could you tell the audience what led you to want to study Blacklight so much?_

 _( **BR** ): Certainly. I used to work at the PRT, studying organic Tinker creations and potentially adapting them to our use. The Blacklight Virus was my latest work._

 _( **GL** ): You're saying that the PRT stole samples from Zeus?_

 _( **BR** ): They did. Armsmaster noticed that his physiology was different to most parahumans, and acquired a sample for further study. My team and I immediately realised that we were __**not**_ _dealing with human DNA. And once we pointed that Blacklight's abilities were not Parahuman in nature, former-Director Piggot ordered me to find a way to for our side to use his DNA._

 _( **GL** ): A task you did with gusto?_

 _( **BR** ): A task I did with __**trepidation**_ _. It didn't take us long to identify his make-up as being viral in nature, and most of our work was spent altering it enough to not kill the host almost instantly. In the end, we had to get a Tinker to build special suits to supress its innate nature._

 _( **GL** ): So why study it again in Mount Olympus?_

 _( **BR** ): Because despite its hostile nature, I saw potential in his DNA. A cellular organism that can impersonate cells so thoroughly that your own body couldn't pick it out of a line-up, while terrifying, can also be incredibly useful. The first thoughts that come to mind are using it as a blood transfer, to help integrate donor organs, perhaps even repair damage in the cellular structure of your body. If we had enough, we could even __**create**_ _the organs and limbs that need replacing._

 _( **GL** ): You mentioned blood transfers. Do you mean that people would inject a pint of Blacklight into themselves, and it mimics their blood?_

 _( **BR** ): That's one use. But I was thinking something deeper. Having it work its way into the donated blood, and start working changes in the DNA of the blood. Change A positive into O negative, for example. Really, the possibilities could be endless once we find a safe way._

 _( **GL** ): Sounds a bit like thousands of Panaceas. Did her powers give you your ideas?_

 _( **BR** ): Well, I won't pretend that Panacea didn't offer __**some**_ _inspiration. But most of the problems I believe Blacklight could solve are problems that medicine has faced since we first started healing people, and our knowledge of cell manipulation hasn't been able to help with. It's not really an exaggeration to suggest that Blacklight knows more about how our bodies work than current medical knowledge._

 _( **GL** ): Speaking of Panacea, some anonymous members of the PRT feel that her power would be able to 'cure' Zeus, the Pantheon, and Brockton Bay of Blacklight. Do you think that's true?_

 _( **BR** ): Speaking honestly, if she had caught him before he managed to build up his biomass stockpile, maybe. Her ability to heal and cure would very likely alter or destroy Blacklight. Of course, despite her power I doubt she could've turned a puddle of organic matter into a person in time to save Zeus, if it were possible. And this would also have required her to have affected him before he could've killed her. She may possibly be immune to Blacklight, but we're still talking about a 200 kilo man-shaped blob with incredible strength and the ability to shape blades and spikes. Most likely, Panacea would've been killed the moment Zeus felt she was a threat. As for now… Well, she's only human. She can only cure so much of Blacklight at once. There's really nothing stopping the rest from consuming and infecting the cured biomass. And of course, there's an even greater chance of her just being killed. So, I wouldn't suggest trying it._

 _( **GL** ): Of course. I feel the same way. (Looks at the team.) And just what are your team studying right now?_

 _( **BR** ): We're observing Blacklight's state when it's pretending to be a solid matter. Our hopes are that by seeing how it reacts when commanded to remain inert, we would have a starting point for possibly creating limbs for amputees._

 _( **GL** ): Couldn't you just get Zeus to tell you?_

 _( **BR** ): We could. But we want to create a new strain, completely safe for human consumption. While Blacklight is safe right now, it is at its heart a bioweapon. And I'd rather not constantly use a resource that has to be commanded to __**not**_ _kill everything around it._

 _( **GL** ): I see. Is it possible to give us a rough estimate on how soon we might see this new version being used?_

 _(BR blows air.) ( **BR** ): Difficult to say. Certainly not within the next few years. I mean, we are trying to fundamentally alter Blacklight's very nature. It's a little bit like trying to change a human being into a bird, or a fish, or a lizard. It's definitely going to take a long while to get anywhere._

 _( **GL** ): Of course. Thank you for your time Doctor Ragland. (Turns back to the camera as BR walks away.) Well, it seems that despite critics beliefs, not everything about Mount Olympus is doom and gloom. Up next, we will be taking a closer look at the bountiful crops Mount Olympus has to offer, including oversized vegetables, fruits and vegetables that taste like confectionary, and meat that grows from trees._

 _(Screen fades away, turning into the Channel 7 logo as music starts playing.)_

* * *

 **Phew. There we go. Interview over and done with. A big thanks to everyone that asked questions for the Pantheon. I don't know if I got them all, since quite a few were the same question just worded differently, but I'm sure I got most. And the most important ones. I kinda wish that there had been a few for The Pantheon, but I guess if they wanted questions they should've taken over a city.**

 **I know this is called Pantheon even though it's just an interview, but I originally planned on the interview being one part and then the Pantheon POV afterwards. But this took quite a while, and I don't have all the ideas for the Pantheon. In fact, the only concrete idea I had was that members of the Church of Blacklight were travelling to Mount Olympus (obvious, since it's pretty much like their Vatican), and members were acting like groupies and wanting the seed of Blacklight implanted in them. Hermes was definitely taking advantage of the fact that women wanted to sleep with him because he was an Evolved. And that's basically as far as I got.**

 **I'm mentioning this because I feel that we've spent enough time with the Aftermath chapters, so the next three chapters are going to be about the Church itself, from Taylor's perspective, and a special possibly-controversial chapter about Cauldron. Then I'll take a little break for the beginning couple of weeks of the New Year (assuming I churn these next three out fast enough) and then we'll have a bit of a time skip. And then the** _ **real**_ **fun begins.**

 **So for now, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I'm definitely coming back before Jan 1st though.**


	21. Aftermath - Religion

**Chapter 21: Aftermath – Religion**

Joseph Graffe splashed water over his face, eyes closed as he felt droplets drip down his face as he leaned over the sink. There were so many problems out there, things that most people were trying to pretend weren't their problem. People were dying, growing sick, being murdered everywhere. Officials didn't want to admit it, but he could see the truth; Mankind was dying out.

He opened his eyes, taking in his appearance. Before, he had been a younger man, more idealistic and full of youthful vigour. Now, his coffee-coloured skin was lined from stress, and his long hair was starting to go grey at the ends. But his eyes were still a bright blue, hardened by determination. Despite his worries, he wasn't giving up. Not when salvation and hope was available. Steeling himself, he grabbed his robe, throwing it over himself as he headed out. Smoothing it over, he looked at his watch. A few minutes to spare. Tardiness wasn't allowed here. Four followers bowed as he passed, muttering words of praise. He pushed open the door, stepping out onto a stage. On the stage with him was a simple (and cheap) lectern, their holy symbol painted on the front. To its left were three chairs, filled by a teary-eyed woman, her eldest son, and her young daughter. To its right was a coffin. And before the podium was a small army of worshippers, some with their heads bowed. There was an air of melancholy.

Breathing deeply through his nose, Reverend Joseph stepped up to the lectern.

"Brothers and sisters." He said, his rich voice filling the church. "We are gathered here to pay our respects to one of our own. We honour Brother Gary Blacken, and his family, during their time of loss. Gary Blacken began his life as part of a loving and supporting family, earning accolades in school before entering college. From there, he left with a degree in woodworking, and already having found the love of dear Delilah. He earned a high-paying job building homes, started a family, and had a truly content life."

"But then work decided that they needed to shrink their staff, and he was unfortunately found redundant. And with few other places interested in a mere woodworker, Gary fell into despair. Whatever money he made went into drink and drugs. He and Delilah quarrelled almost daily. He was forced to work as muscle for villains to make ends meet. When Delilah left with the kids for her mother's place, it seemed to be the end for Gary."

"But then… _we_ found him. We saw a poor man lost in his way, and we tried to help him. Through human determination and sheer bullheadedness, we helped him beat his destructive habits. And when we found out his prior job, we realised that we could help one another. The work healed him; he stopped drinking, he cleaned up his life, found purpose as one of us. We gave him the courage to go to Delilah, ask for her forgiveness, and prove that he was back to his old self. With our help, he managed to repair his marriage. And once again, life was good for him once more." Joseph stopped, glancing at the coffin near him. Delilah let out a loud sob.

"But that future was stolen from him." He continued in a sombre tone. "Two nights ago, Gary left to go to the store for some milk for breakfast the next day. He didn't return that night; he failed to return that morning. Delilah called the police, but they didn't think anything was untoward. At the same time, they received a call from a dairy, reporting a body not far from his store. Police identified it as Gary Blacken. His injuries made it clear; this wasn't a terrible accident. This was a hate-crime. Someone targeted him directly, and wanted to hurt him." The crowd gasped, and some people were muttering angrily. "I tell you this because hiding the truth would be an insult to Brother Gary, and to his family. And because you need to know our enemies' plans." He banged a gavel he had nearby, giving everyone a firm look. "The Government dislikes us for glorifying their enemy. Christianity despises us for worshipping a 'false god'. Businesses hate us because, like every charitable group, we don't care about their bottom dollar. They call us monsters, terrorists, cultists and psychos. They portray us as violent, fundamentalist, and completely insane. And they want us to prove them _right_. They attack us like this because they _want_ to provoke us. Right now, they can't legally do anything about us. We're helpful, charitable, arrange food trips for the homeless, and above all, haven't committed any violent or terrorist acts. Right now, people see us as 'kooky but ultimately harmless'. Any attempt to shut us down violently would be met with outrage by the public." He paused for drama. "But the moment we fight back, the moment we defend ourselves, then you can bet that both groups will use everything they've got to tear us apart. Every loophole, every trick, even possibly frame us for more acts. They will bring us in, and charge us for every crime they can just to make sure that our beliefs are wiped out." He took a deep breath. "That is why it is _paramount_ … that we do not try to take justice into our own hands." He had to stop as loud complaints washed over him. "I have spoken with police, and they have _assured me_ that they will find the ones responsible, and see them tried for their crime."

"And you actually believe them!?" One of their members, a large man, shouted angrily. "You just said that the government wants us gone! Why should we trust their stooges!?"

"Because there are plenty of officers who want to see justice served, and murderers stopped. I trust these people… and so should all of you. Despite our beliefs, we are still American citizens; and we have the same rights as everyone else. All we have to do is be reasonable, and don't do anything rash." He said this firmly, staring directly at the outcrier. The man glowered as he sat back down. "I know you're angry; I am too. But we need to be patient and rational. Justice will be served. Now, a moment of silence for our fallen brother." Everyone bowed their heads, praying. Joseph spoke up again once the minute was up. "Dearly departed brother, we wish you had more time with us. But take heart that you will still help others even in death, for your body will be donated to Our Lord. May your soul know peace, and your body help others achieve perfect health. Amen."

"Amen." Everyone chanted. And with that, the service was over. The four followers moved to carry the coffin, where it would be put onto a truck and transported to Brockton Bay. Everyone else headed for the doors, opening them wide and opening the church again.

Joseph stopped before Delilah Blacken. "Mrs Blacken, I am truly sorry for your loss." He said. "If you need someone to talk to, our therapists are available at all times."

Delilah sobbed once. "Do you… do you think… that he might still be alive… if he hadn't joined your church?" She asked.

Joseph paused, then sighed. "Truthfully; maybe. But then again, people will do anything. The fact that he made our pews may have been all the reason they needed to go after him." Inwardly, he cursed. He forgot to mention the pews. Gary had been proud of them; proud of his work. "They could've seen the fact that we helped him fight his addiction to be enough of a reason. We honestly don't know." Delilah sobbed some more, her eldest leading her gently outside. As he watched them go, Joseph spotted a familiar face. A grizzled face, dressed in threadbare clothes and a tattered leather jacket.

"Every time I see you in that bathrobe, I still can't believe you actually went through with this." He said, once Joseph got close enough. "You quit your life to be a weirdo."

"And a fine hello to you too Adam." Joseph said warmly. "It could always be worse. I could be a weirdo is a gold-trimmed bathrobe." They both chuckled softly. But then Adam looked over the solemn people walking past.

"Gary Blacken?" Adam asked.

"He was one of ours; we gave him his funeral rights, just like he wanted." He sighed. "How are you doing on your end?"

"We keep hitting brick walls. People are tight-lipped for the most part, and anyone willing to talk just keep saying how much they hate you guys. But you know me; I love busting down walls. We're getting there; one way or another."

"Thank you. I just wished you had more people helping you." Despite what he said, not a lot of people were jumping to help out.

"Too right. Strong arming people into doing their damn job was _your_ specialty. I'm just good at bringing perps in." Their talk was interrupted by shouting. Angry shouting. And the sound of a scuffle. "And it sounds like my skills are going to be needed. Just hope your cultists don't kill the guy."

"So do I." Joseph replied, hurrying as fast as he could in his robes. They came across a scrum, worshippers piling on and beating up a lone man. Joseph shouted, pulling people off. Adam helped, being a bit rougher. But eventually, they managed to pull a scraggly tattooed man out of the pile. He was bloodied, badly. "What the hell is going on here?! What did I just say?!"

"This bastard was defacing the church!" The same man from before shouted, pointing at the wall. There was graffiti, showing a beheaded Zeus bleeding everywhere, along with the words 'your god is dead'. "He's probably one of the fuckers attacking us!"

"And you were planning on _beating_ him to death? For graffiti? This is _exactly_ the kind of stuff that we're being accused of!" Joseph said angrily. "We're just proving them right!"

"You fuckers are insane!" The man said through gritted teeth, spitting out a mouthful of blood. "Fucking traitors and freak lovers! You all deserve to get fucking killed off; just like that fucker I dealt with!"

Everyone paused at that. "What are you talking about?" Joseph asked quietly. The man stayed silent. "I said, what are you talking about?"

"Father Joseph asked you a question!" Someone shouted, punching the man in the stomach.

"Hey!" Adam shouted out. "Officer of the law here. No need for that." Everyone backed off as he approached the man. "That's _my_ job. What the fuck are you talking about?" Adam kicked out, knocking the man over. The guy wheezed from the pain.

"You… can't do that… I… have rights." The man said slowly and painfully.

"You're surrounded by people who had been five seconds from beating the shit out of you. Nobody here cares about your rights. Now start talking. Where were you two nights ago, between the times of 12 o'clock and 4 o'clock?" The man just glared at him. "Right then. In that case, I'm placing you under arrest for suspicion of the murder of Gary Blacken. Anything you say _can_ and _will_ be used against you in a court of law…"

"Freak fucker!" The man started shouting. "You're just like them! Fuckers who want to see us wiped out and turned into those fucking…" That's as far as he got before Adam punched him squarely in the jaw.

"…You have a right to an attorney, yadda, yadda, yadda." Adam finished. "Out of the way people. I need to get this guy into lockup before he starts shouting his mouth again." He handcuffed the man, hoisting him over his shoulder.

"What's going to happen to him?" Someone called out.

"He's going to spend some time with us, answering questions while we find some evidence against him. If we do, then he's going to face either a long time in jail, or the death penalty depending on the jury. And anyone who decides to kill him personally will face the same punishment, so don't try anything." He looked at Joseph. "Have to meet up later. Work first and all."

"Of course. My door is always open." Joseph replied. As Adam left, he spoke to his people. "You see? Justice is being served. We are not forgotten. Now, please remain calm and let justice run its course. Go to your families, and wish them a good day." People started calming down, pleased that justice was happening. Several of them volunteered to clean off the graffiti. As they started going about their ways, Joseph headed back in. Going for his personal chambers.

He entered his room to find the window forced open, several black crows flocking around his room. As he came in, they all stopped looking at his books, staring at him as one. A chill ran down his spine. The birds flew, flocking into a humanoid shape. Their feathers flowed, turning into armour.

And then Zeus himself was standing before him. Watching him.

"So." He said. "You're the one who started all this worshipping bullshit."

* * *

Joseph gulped. "My Lord. We… _I_ was not expecting you. I would've tided the place up if I had…" Zeus lashed out with an arm, and suddenly he found his throat constricted by tendrils, lifting him off the ground.

This wasn't unexpected. He had seen the footage; read the reports. Zeus was temperamental. His interview made it clear he wasn't pleased to be worshipped. Honestly, Joseph counted himself lucky to be alive still. So he shut up. He didn't plead, he didn't try to explain. He just waited for whatever Zeus wanted to say.

The deity himself was looking around the room, face turning slowly as he took it all in. It wasn't much; just a few worn pieces of furniture, donated by worshippers. Some invoices and pamphlets on the desk. A clunky computer set up, and no TV. The only thing that was expensive was the bed and the wine cabinet.

"Hmph. Not what I was expecting." Zeus mused. "I figured that whoever started this cult was some money-grubbing asshole, bilking people out of all their cash and worldly possessions. Or a terrorist turning people into a private army." He looked back at Joseph, reeling him in. "But this… this might actually be worse. At least I get those bastards; they're assholes who need killing. But you…" He shook his head. "You honestly believe in me. You really think that I'm a god."

He hadn't been killed yet, so maybe he could explain himself. "Is it not natural for man to see something greater than themselves – something more perfect and yet resembling us – and not think it to be a god? People worship Scion as though he is God Himself. Why can't we believe that _you_ – something that _isn't_ made by parahumans – could be a god?"

"Because I'm not. I'm a monster wearing the skin of a human. I'd probably be more like the Devil." Zeus waved his free hand. "It doesn't matter whether I'm a god or a devil. What _I_ care about is that you guys are going to end up spreading Blacklight around the world, 'gifting' people with infection, and then I'm going to get the blame for it. Find something else to worship. I'm not interested."

"But you can do so much good." Joseph exclaimed. "And I don't just mean you personally. I mean what Blacklight can do for the world." His life was probably over. But maybe he could convince Zeus that this didn't have to end badly. "You said that you were once human. That even when you first turned, you were greater than any human could ever be. You could survive so much. Think about what it could mean for _us_. Imagine what humanity could do if we had your strength."

"It would just mean that humanity would be dead. Homo Sapiens replaced by Homo Infected. I doubt most people would like that."

"Sometimes, survival means doing things, even if we don't like them." Zeus stared at him, before dropping him to the ground. Joseph massaged his throat, trying to get feeling back in it.

"What are you talking about? What survival?"

"We're dying out, My Lord. Between the villains, Slaughterhouse Nine, and the Endbringers, we are being killed off bit by bit. Millions, or even billions of people die each year. Entire islands and landmasses are wiped out. Drinkable water is disappearing. I had contacts in the PRT. They theorised that we'd all be dead within two decades. The entire human race on this world… gone in twenty years. That's barely even a generation to go."

"And you think that becoming Evolved could solve all those problems?" Even with the mask on, he could easily imagine Zeus arcing an eyebrow.

"At the very least, it would take a lot more to kill us. We could shrug off injuries that would be lethal. We could adapt ourselves to drink saltwater. And… well, do Infected actually age?"

"…Not that I'm aware of. Greene had been locked up for fifty years and hadn't changed a day. It was like Redlight preserved her at the moment she was infected."

Joseph smiled. "No more old age. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine the change that brings? Brilliant and great people will live forever."

"So will the bastards. Imagine if someone became the next Hitler. How do you kill him if he's effectively immortal?"

"He may be immortal, but he wouldn't be much better than anyone else. He could still be torn apart. Or you could take our gift away. Lock his mind away somewhere." Zeus tilted his head, and flexed his fingers. "And… and think about what could happen if we _didn't_ make people Evolved. We could… we could use Blacklight as replacement limbs. To heal scars and burn marks. Heal paraplegics…"

"Things that Ragland and his team are already working towards." Zeus interrupted.

"Yes. But they said it might take years. If you were willing, we could be healing people right now. And think of this as a PR event."

Zeus paused. "You've got my attention again. How would this be a PR event?"

"People are afraid of you, because they see only the _bad_ things you can do. But we could show people that you can do _good_ things too. You can help them where hospitals and governments can't. And if people love and worship you, then they could protect your home. Make sure the government doesn't try to destroy it again." Zeus tilted his head some more, almost ninety degrees. It was like he was listening to something, or someone. Joseph waited with baited breath.

Zeus turned his head back, and sighed, pressing a hand to his face. "I can't believe I'm actually agreeing to this. Alright. Fine. You get to keep going. But with a few conditions."

"Anything, My Lord."

"First off, don't call me that to my face. Just… just Zeus. Or Lord Zeus if you can't drop the pretentious attitude. Secondly, we need… donations. I'm well aware that you've been handing bodies to me, but Athena says that we need more. Nothing _too_ expensive; just things that we can't make ourselves. And thirdly, my word is law. If I don't directly say it, then it's bullshit. If you or anyone else try to justify anything by saying things like 'Zeus hates fags', or 'Zeus hates the blacks'… then I will fucking murder _everyone_ involved. Men, women, and children. People start a radical splinter group, you are to deal with them immediately."

"Of course. I don't want those things either. I don't want us becoming corrupt like the Church. I just want to help mankind." Zeus stared at him again, before a large brick of his body fell off, landing on the floor. Zeus bent down to pick it up.

"Here." He said, handing it over. "Your first 'gift from God'. Feed it meat, and it will grow. It's commanded to heal and repair. Nothing else. It'll also die off in a month, no matter what you do. Show me that you can be trusted with it, and I'll send some more your way. Able to do more things."

"I… thank you, My… I mean, Lord Zeus." He hefted the brick in his hand. It felt heavier than it looked. "But what about people we heal? Will the Blacklight on them die off as well?"

"Yes. So I'd advise you to warn them before giving them an arm or a leg. And remember; we'll be watching." His body shifted, turning into a flock of crows and flapping en masse out the window.

Leaving Joseph holding the key to their salvation in his hand.

* * *

One month later, every piece of Blacklight they had stopped working. Shrivelled up and crumbled to nothing. Replacement limbs vanished overnight. But he did as instructed. He warned everyone about how limited it was. He made it clear that fanaticism and attacks would not be tolerated. He sent emails to the government informing them that any sect that launched attacks on the populace was not a part of them. People kept their noses clean, for the most part. And so it was that one day, they found a black parcel sitting outside their doors, along with a message. Zeus was pleased that they were on the level. The package was trained to do anything non-combat related, and would just need offerings of meat.

As soon as he had it inside, he had word sent out. Anyone healed before came back for a second time. Limbs were replaced and burns healed over. Parts of Blacklight were used to fill in the holes in the walls. And word got out. In barely two weeks, their numbers had almost doubled. People wanted to be helped; they wanted to be cured.

Joseph was snipping away at a few stray threads on his robes when he was startled by knocking. He looked up to see Adam waiting in his doorway.

Joseph chuckled. "I wasn't sure if you were going to come back after you arrested that man last month." He said, getting up and shaking Adam's hand. "Did you find out anything?"

"We found a guilty verdict. Guy didn't really deny it; he just kept ranting about how your lot are sick and twisted and needed to wiped out. His lawyer tried to get him put down as clinically insane, but the judge wasn't having any of it. Currently locked up; think they've got him on death row." Adam said.

"Fantastic." Joseph replied. "I didn't want to have to tell people that he was let off with a warning or worse." He waved a hand to the chairs, grabbing a bottle from his cabinet. "I'm actually surprised someone didn't try to get him off."

"Oh, there are a few who might've if the guy had done something smaller. But he murdered someone, and did it in a real sick way. Nobody in the force wanted to get a rap for trying to help him." He fixed Joseph with a stare. "But trust me, the next guy might be a bit luckier. Higher ups are leaning on us to find something to bring you in for."

"Well, good thing I've been on the straight and narrow." Joseph replied, sipping from his drink. "They can't even hit me with breaking the Embargo, since nobody's paying lip service to it anymore."

"Just don't be surprised if they come up with some trumped up charges. They're getting desperate." He looked around the room, taking in everything. "This place is shit. Don't know why the church wants this back so badly."

"They don't want competition, that's all. But there's not much they can do; I brought this place from them through legal channels, and I'm not willing to sell until we can get someplace bigger and better."

"Yeah, but I honestly expected something better. At least in your 'private quarters'. Where's the gold ornaments? The Picassos? The strippers? Your robe looks like you just grabbed it off the floor, for God's sake."

"Funny. Lord Zeus thought the same thing when I first talked to him. People may be surprised to hear this, but I'm not playing a con here. I actually want to do some good.

"By worshipping a goddamn mass-murdering _monster_?" Adam asked incredulously. "The guy's killed hundreds of people just on our world alone, and you're putting him on a pedestal?"

"It's _Blacklight_ I'm putting on a pedestal. Zeus is just the source, and an example of the kind of strength we could achieve. We've already helped so many people, and we can help so many more."

"Doesn't change a thing." Adam was getting angry. "You saw what he did. How many officers did he kill because he felt slighted? Do you even know how many people had to be moved about because there aren't enough capes to deal with the villains anymore? And you had to fall off the wagon and start up a cult worshipping the psycho." He shook his head. "We lost friends because of him."

Joseph put the glass down, the rest of his drink untouched. "I _know_. Half the casualties that day were good people who got caught up in shit. Regular men and women forced to tangle with zombies and truck-tearing monsters. I haven't forgotten that. But he caught _everyone_ by surprise because he never did that before. He never launched an assault like that on us before. And the only reason he even went for the kill was because we went too far."

Adam looked away. "Yeah… well you can't lay the whole thing at Alexandria's feet."

"True. There were also the idiots that authorised the bomb. Hundreds of people nearly killed, just to deal with _one_ man." Joseph took a deep gulp of his drink. "We didn't join law enforcement to kill the people we're supposed to protect."

"Maybe. If he was Slaughterhouse Nine, I'd have pushed the button in a heartbeat."

"…Well, what's done is done. I'm not ashamed of what I did."

"Mhmm." Adam nodded, nursing his drink. "You know, they say that active crime has dropped to practically nothing in Brockton Bay. Guy may be a cold, unfeeling, murderous monster, but he's definitely getting results."

Joseph grinned. "You can hate the man, but you can't hate what he's done."

"Guess not."

Joseph stood up. "We've got a ceremony ready to go in ten minutes. You could stay and see what exactly we're doing in here. As a favour to me. Things aren't as bad as people say."

"…" Adam groaned as he got up. "You'll owe me a beer after this."

"I'll owe you three." He clapped Adam on the shoulder. "Come on. I need to get ready."

* * *

"Brothers and sisters." Reverend Joseph said, his voice reaching everywhere. "We are here to offer healing once again. To relieve lingering wounds, scarring of the past, and marks of abuse and suffering." Beside him were three people; two men, and a woman. The men were obviously injured; one man walked without an arm, while the other was blind in one eye, a large burn mark covering one side of his face. But the woman appeared unmarked. "May the blessed please approach." The three of them turned, walking in a line towards him. Stopping before a large basin, filled with black-and-red liquid.

"Brother Patrick Gaunt. Lost his arm during a construction accident, when the winch holding up girders failed, dropping one right down on his arm and sheering it off. His employers refused to be held accountable, and attempted to pin the blame on his negligence. Step forward, and lean over the basin." Patrick did so, his body still and solid. Joseph pulled out a black stick from his robe, a large dome on the top. "Blacklight, bless this man with a new arm, as perfect as the day he was born." He said to the tool, dipping the head into the liquid. It immediately started shifting, reaching up for Patrick. The tendrils snaked towards his stump, wrapping around it like fingers. And then it started spreading, growing bigger and bigger, wrapping around more of his body. The black liquid turned pink, bulging with muscles and sinew. Patrick winced a bit as they connected to his nerves, the ends of the limb twitching and writhing. But in seconds, his arm went slack. He stepped away from the basin, pressing a hand to his shoulder.

And his new arm started rotating.

He bent it at the elbow and wiggled the fingers, marvelling at his new limb. It resembled his other arm, but without the scars, tanning, and calluses gained from use. He smiled, looking ready to cry.

"Thank you, Father Joseph." He said, bowing. "And bless Lord Zeus for this fine gift." He walked away, standing further away.

"Damian Sharpe." Joseph called out. "Got into an argument with his neighbour after he caught his neighbour tossing grass clipping over his side of the fence. The arguing escalated until they ended up fighting. That night, the neighbour snuck up on him, tossing petrol at his face before pressing a lighter against his skin, igniting the petrol. The man was charged for aggravated assault, but that didn't heal the burns he suffered. Step forward, and lean over the basin." Sharpe got closer, his body shaking as he leaned over the liquid. It wasn't acting like regular liquid anymore; it kept moving, and reaching out. "Blacklight, hide the scars this man has suffered, healing them until they are no more." Again, he dipped the head of his tool into the liquid; again, it reached upwards towards the sky. Sharpe closed his eyes, whole body trembling. Blacklight caressed his face, covering it like cream. Some of it forced itself under his eyelid. The Blacklight turned a normal shade, and then it was done. "Open your eyes, Sharpe, and see once again." The man slowly opened both eyes, revealing two brilliant blue eyes. He blinked quickly, turning around on the spot. A look of shock covered his face. Two attendants stepped out, carrying a mirror. Sharpe looked amazed as he stared at the mirror, hand brushing his cheek. "The Blacklight shall cover your scar, removing the dead flesh and help your body replenish your skin.

"I…I…" Sharpe stuttered. "Th-Thank you, Father Joseph." He gave a bow, and then joined Patrick.

"And now, our last patient for the day. Amy Whitley. A poor woman who thought she had found the one, only to realise what kind of man he _truly_ was. Step forward, and reveal your wounds so that we may heal them." Amy stepped forward, and then turned around to lift the back of her shirt. Members of the audience gasped; her back was absolutely _covered_ by scarring. Whoever did this had done it many times, and hadn't been gentle. "Blessed Blacklight, we have scars in need of healing. Let us carry you, so that you may mend her wounds." After dipping the tool in, Joseph shoved both hands in, pulling them back out. Blacklight clung to them like paste, solidifying at the ends. He pressed one hand against her back, and the Blacklight flowed from his hands over her back. She shuddered as it moved, as it covered every inch of her back. "Now, we merely have to wait." Joseph said, stepping back.

The room was silent for several minutes as Blacklight worked. Amy grimaced over time, before the tension seemed to leave her. The Blacklight turned white; Joseph stepped in again, pressing a hand to her back. Blacklight flowed over his hand and up his arm. He dropped it into the basin, pulling his arm free.

Everyone else was busy admiring Amy's back. Not a single mark remained. It was smooth and unblemished once again.

"We may not be able to do much for the mental scarring of your ordeals. But we can at least heal your bodies of their wounds." Joseph said to the three of them. All three members were smiling now, happy with their gifts. He turned towards the crowd. "Soon, such things will be a thing of the past. Once we have proven ourselves worthy to Lord Zeus, proven that He can trust us with His gifts, then we shall be evolved into the pinnacle of Man's strengths… and beyond." The crowd cheered and clapped, as the basin was taken away. "Now, I believe that there are food and refreshments waiting for us. It would be a crime to let them go to waste." The far doors opened, and everyone streamed out to eat and drink. Adam, waiting at the back, moved through the crowd towards Joseph.

The man himself was being thanked by his guests, especially Amy. She was practically in tears with joy. The three of them left, waving back to Joseph with glee. He turned, and saw Adam approaching.

"Alright. Maybe you _do_ have something good going on here." Adam admitted, knowing that Joseph would never let him forget this moment. "I still think you're completely insane, but at least you're a _harmless_ kind of insane."

"There are worse things to be called." Joseph replied, chuckling.

"Now, I'm starving. Let's see if the perks are worth being stuck as your friend." Adam said, clapping him on the shoulder and leading him outside.

* * *

 **And another chapter done. Right now, I'm on holiday at Mahia (a little holiday and fishing town) with only my data for internet, and I'm certain the lack of things to do means that I get more writing done down here. At least I know a good place to go if I** _ **really**_ **need to get some serious writing done.**

 **Joking aside, there may be a few things I didn't quite get across in this chapter (or at least, that's how** _ **I**_ **feel). Joseph was a former police officer who joined to do good and take down the bad guys. Adam was his mentor on the force, and is your standard cowboy cop. He's rude and likes to let his fists do the talking, but he wants to help people. After Brockton Bay, Joseph quit and came to see Blacklight as the answer to the world's problems. Hence, why he practically started a church by himself. As for how he knows that the human race is being wiped out, well I'd imagine that lots of scientists outside the PRT are noticing that trend too.**

 **And for those wondering, yes; this is probably going to blow up at some point. You get enough branches and enough people, and one day some of them are going to come up with their version of their doctrine and go full-on terrorist. The good news is that Alex is going to keep an eye out for that, and their life expectancy could be measured in minutes and hours. And he's not going to eat them unless he has to; he's going to pretty much splatter them across as many walls as he can find. But of course, it would be just like us to throw that in when things are already going crazy.**

 **See you in the next chapter. Going to rest up now for a short while.**


	22. Aftermath - Taylor

**Chapter 22: Aftermath – Taylor**

Danny groaned as he released the box he had put down, pressing his hands against his back as he got up. He was barely near his fifties, yet he had the body of a man half-again his age. Maybe he should take a leaf from Taylor's book and do some jogging. Or hit the gym. Assuming there were any still in business.

Grimacing, he bent down to grab the box again. He was beaten to the punch by someone bigger and stronger. "Let me get that for you, old man." Kurt said, smiling. "The way you're moving, we thought you might have a hernia." He hefted the box easily, slotting it inside the moving van. "I guess age is finally catching up to you."

"That's not age. That's geek physiques." Alexander shouted in gentle ribbing. "It's a terrible affliction that only happens if you sit on your ass all day."

"We can't all be bulging with muscles. Some of us are just born skinny." Danny shot back. Kurt, his wife Lacey, and Alexander were his closest friends. People he got to know well at the docks, before it had been shut down and every attempt to get more work met a brick wall. But despite all that, they remained close friends. "Skinny is in my genes."

"Is that your excuse when people ask you to do some _real_ work?"

"Well _someone's_ got to make sure you no-necked Neanderthals get looked after. Save you guys from straining yourself thinking." They all laughed at that. Danny may not be as strong, but he could give just as much as he got.

Lacey came out of the house, hoisting a large box marked for the kitchen. "Hey Danny. Saw you left a few appliances on the bench. Are those going in a box too?"

He shook his head. "They're pretty beat up, to be honest. I was going to leave them behind to be scrapped. I can always get newer ones."

"You really think the government is going to pony up on the money?" Kurt ask as he and Alex worked together to lift the wardrobe into the truck. "That's a lot of money we're talking about here."

"It's in their best interests." Danny replied. "They want to give people a reason to _leave_ Brockton Bay. After all, how many people would want to move out of their homes to try and fight two dozen people for property elsewhere?"

"Guess it makes a bit of sense." They grunted as they shoved the wardrobe in, pressing it against the cabinet. "So, where are you moving to? New York? Washington?"

Danny shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure. Right now, I just want to get Taylor out of this place before something _else_ happens. Leviathan, Slaughterhouse Nine, now Zeus and his Pantheon. Brockton Bay's going down, and I don't plan on being on board when it sinks."

"I hear you. Heard they need more workers over in Nashville. Could be the break we need."

"Here's hoping they don't screw us over." Lacey added.

"Well, I'm happy that you know what you're doing. With your work records, you're sure to get those jobs." Danny managed to push a box filled with books into the truck. "I'm going to pack up Taylor's room for her. Could you guys keep loading for me?"

"Sure." Danny headed indoors, until Kurt called out to him. "Have you actually told her that you're both moving?"

Danny shook his head. "Haven't been able to get in contact with her. I don't see her as much ever since she…" He stopped talking.

 _Ever since she moved out._

He put on a brave face. "She'll understand. Things haven't been easy since Annette died. Maybe a new home will help her recover." He turned and headed inside, going up the stairs to her room. It was still the same it had been when she left. Bed made and waiting for an occupant; Curtains wide open; schoolbooks waiting to be read and used. He brought up boxes, and started packing everything. He'll wait till they get to their new home before sorting these out. He didn't actually know what she wanted, and what she didn't.

He had just moved into the pictures she had arrayed around her room when he stopped. Before him were two pictures. One from ages ago, and one more recent. The first one was the whole family together, enjoying a day in the park. He remembered that day well. His fingers brushed the glass, passing under Taylor's gap-toothed smile. He then looked at the other picture; one he had taken the year before. Taylor in her school uniform, looking actually happy for a change. Before the bullying started. She looked so much like her mother. Tall and skinny. Annette used to joke that they were a family of lamp posts, and should wear headlamps at night. The pictures were a bit out of date, but he could easily see her as she was today. Shot up like a sapling, as skinny as a rail, long curly brown hair crashing down on her shoulders.

A chill ran down his spine, his synapses making impossible connections. He dropped the picture frames as his body went numb. Tall figure. Skinny. Long brown hair.

 _It couldn't be_.

Kurt looked up as he stumbled out of the house, walking like a zombie. "Yo, Danny. Something the matter? Did you find Taylor's porn collection?"

"I… no." He said quietly. "I… I just… need to check up on something." And then he turned and walked away, a photo clutched in his fingers.

Kurt shrugged. "Ok. We'll keep packing for you then." But Danny wasn't listening. He kept walking in a daze, somehow finding his way to the bus stop. Thanks to the Pantheon, the roads were cleared enough to get to _most_ places. No need to walk across the entire city.

He ignored the sounds of people around him, lost in his own little world. He only moved when the driver announced that they had reached the Boardwalk. Stumbling from his seat, he somehow got out in time, the bus rolling away behind him. He walked out of civilisation, and into the territory of a villain.

Swarm.

People were milling around, completely at ease with the state of the world around them. Maybe living under the control of a villain had made them jaded; what does it matter if their lord serves another? It wouldn't change much in the end. He quickly stepped back as one of the Infected scuttled by, carrying large timbers in its mandibles. He watched as it stopped by one of the damaged houses, another Infected sitting around the structure, supported by thick legs. Gripping claws reached down, grabbing timber and lifting it. The plank was held in place, and regular people sitting on scaffolding started using tools to hammer in nails. As they did that, more hands grabbed more planks, holding them in the air. An arm, its fingers fused into a giant blade, measured the plank, before rising and slicing it into pieces. Those pieces were them pressed against the completed frame, where other people were working. Insulation was pressed into the wall; bricks were piled up and set into place. Another infected with a huge mouth waddled over to a trench being made, head spinning slowly. It tilted over, vomiting concrete up into the trench. Big monsters held the timber in place, their bodies completely still.

And everywhere, there were bugs flying about.

He felt one settle on his sleeve, made to swat it. It buzzed away, but immediately came back, this time landing on his back. Swarm, probably keeping an eye on everyone in her territory. Turning his attention away from the monsters marching around him, he headed further in. Trying to find the villainess herself.

It didn't take him long.

There she was, in all her glory. Completely covered in a pitch-black body suit, armour plating covering the suit. A half-cape draped her shoulders, and she had added a simple tiara to her outfit. Insects scurried everywhere around her, and she was standing next to a giant insect. Some kind of beetle; but a closer look revealed similarities to the monsters made by Zeus. Long brown hair fanned around her face, curly and frizzy.

Danny looked at picture, ten at Swarm. Then the picture, then Swarm again. Same skinny figure. Same brown curly hair. Same height. Swarm turned slightly, spotted him, and halted completely. They were both statues, staring at each other from across the street.

Taylor – His little girl – was Swarm. She was a supervillain. The knowledge broke something inside of him.

They both stared at each other for what felt like forever, the bugs flying around freely as her attention wavered. But then eventually, Swarm looked away, the bugs back under her control. She stood there, while in the distance bugs formed a humanoid cloud and started talking to someone. Danny turned away, stumbling through the area until he came across a fire set up in the centre. He stopped before a bench, and plonked himself down on it. The photo fluttered from his fingers. He would've probably just sat there forever, too scarred to care anymore, but he was startled awake as someone held a plate under his face. He looked up to see a young woman with red dreadlocked hair standing over him.

"Here you go." She said. "You look like you need something to eat." Part of him wanted to just throw the plate; do something to get her out of his face. But he was too defeated to get angry; he took the plate and started eating. The woman sat down next to him. "I'm actually a bit surprised. I figured that everyone would be getting enough food now that Zeus took over. Maybe there really _is_ a shortage." She sat down next to him. "Are you going to be ok, sir? We've got some spare space if you don't mind sleeping on the floor."

He tried to say something. But the shock had rendered him mute. He could only shake his head in response. He glanced at her again, and noticed something he missed because of his addled mind.

This young woman was wearing a black domino mask.

"You… You work for her?" He rasped out. The woman looked confused at his reaction.

"Uh, yeah. I work for Swarm. It's not the worst thing I could do. She's actually a good boss." She replied.

A good boss? His little girl was a 'good boss'? What did that even mean for a villain? Did she let her workers have free reign to do whatever they felt, to hurt or steal whatever they wanted? Or was it… Or was it more like _his_ idea of a good boss? Someone who cared about the people under their protection, who was trying to make things better?

He desperately hoped it was the latter.

"Well… I should get back to work." The woman said awkwardly. She turned to walk away.

"Wait." He said quickly. "Stay. I want to know about Tay… Swarm. I want to know what she's like." The woman stopped, but then returned and sat back down.

"Ok. I guess I know her the best around here, Mr…"

"Call me Danny."

"Sierra. So, what exactly do you want to know?"

"Is she… ok to live under? She doesn't ask things of you that you're not comfortable with?"

"Not at all. I was worried about that too, but I've been working for her for weeks now, and I haven't been asked to do anything criminal. No drug deals, no hits, no threatening people. She just has me finding people who need help with things, point out crises we've got, and generally just help making lives easier." She paused. "She was actually the first, you know. The first villain who decided to help out the little people. Maybe Zeus got the idea from her or something."

"Does she hurt people? Or is it just intimidation?"

"Oh, she hurts people alright. I mean, you can't exactly be a villain without some ruthlessness. But she only hurts people that threaten us. She took care of some Merchants and Chosen that were trying to muscle in on our territory. Had her bugs swarming them until they scampered. They never returned, even _before_ Zeus chased both gangs out."

Their talk was interrupted by a commotion not far away. A large family was waiting outside one of the warehouses, the head of the family arguing with a slight girl wearing a domino mask. Another of Taylor's minions. The girl seemed scared. Danny didn't blame her.

Taylor immediately approached, her giant beetle by her side at all times. She quickly took over the talk, letting herself be the centre of the man's ire. Danny felt a bit of heat flush his face. If that man raised a hand against his daughter, he would march over there and slug him in the face.

But maybe being in the heart of her territory made him reconsider. The man settled for glowering at her. Taylor didn't react; she simply bent down to the youngest child, talking to him instead. Then she stood back up, and the boy started counting to himself. In just a minute of counting, a trail of bugs came out of the warehouse, carrying a line of dead rats outside. Dozens, then hundreds. Multiplied by the lack of sanitation around. The insects deposited the rats in a pile, and one of the Infected approached it. Tendrils snaked out, and started melting the pile into a mess of matter. When the last rat had been deposited, another Infected rose up and scurried off to work. Taylor looked away from the Infected, and talked again to the man.

He was surprised. This wasn't the defeated girl he worried about last year. This wasn't even the happy child he raised before then. This was something else. Morals tempered by steel.

He wasn't sure if he should be happy for her or not.

"See? He'll complain about something or another, but she helped out. That's just the kind of person she is. I think calling her a villain is a bit of a misnomer."

"I see." He said slowly. "Thank you. That answered… a lot of questions I had." He stood up, handing the half-eaten plate of food back. "Thank you for your hospitality." And then he walked off.

He waited until he was outside the areas officially designated Swarm's territory before he texted her. Once that was done, he hurried back home as fast as he could.

* * *

'we need to talk. asap. please.' That was the text I got from my father. Barely half an hour after I saw him in my territory, staring at me like I killed someone.

I wanted to believe this was a coincidence, but I seriously doubted it.

I had made excuses to get away, gotten changed out of my suit, and hurried away as fast as I could. As far as people were aware, Swarm was inside her lair, plotting, while a young woman looking similar to her had left to see family. I missed the first bus, so I had to wait for the second one. It took me forty minutes to get home.

Imagine my surprise when I saw a battered moving truck sitting outside. I opened the back just enough to look inside. It was practically full.

Maybe _this_ was what he had to talk about. Deciding to move us without telling me. I had to find some way to convince him to stay. I _had_ to stay.

It wasn't that I didn't trust Alex and Dana with Brockton Bay. I'd just feel better if I was still around to keep an eye on things. And I had people depending on me. That was what I told myself.

"Dad?" I called out, knocking on the doorframe. "I'm home." No response. I tiptoed inside, taking note of how forlorn the place looked without everything. I found Dad in the kitchen, packing a bag with food. Perishables; things that could be eaten in the car. I knocked on the frame, and he seemed to stop moving. "You wanted to talk?"

"…Yes." He said, sitting down. He pressed one hand firmly against the chair. Almost like a direct order. I immediately sat down. He cleared his throat, but he seemed to be at a loss for words. The silence pressed down on us.

"Are we moving?" I finally asked. My mind was already thinking of anything I could say to convince him that we should stay.

"We are." He replied. "The government is offering funding to anyone wanting to move out of Brockton Bay. I figured we could use that money to start fresh somewhere else."

"But Brockton Bay's always been our home."

"It _was_ our home. But now there's a dangerous villain taking over, along with a legion of other villains. We simply don't know what they'll be like. Who's to say that one of them won't just snap one day and start murdering us? Or what if they want to 'cleanse' the city? I'd feel safer being anywhere but here."

"But Brockton Bay's safe. Safer than anywhere else. The villains are keeping crime down, and Zeus has pretty much strangled the drug trade." I grimaced. There was no way regular Taylor would've known about that. "At least, that's what I heard."

Dad didn't seem too surprised. "Perhaps, but that's like saying somewhere is safe because every criminal is under the thumb of one lone crime lord. It's true, but it's not ideal. And there's still over a dozen villains under his control. What if one of them decided he didn't like following orders and started a coup? And what about if the world finally figures out how to destroy Zeus? We could be held hostage at best, at ground zero at worst."

"But… But I like it here."

"You do? After everything? Why?" He didn't sound surprised; just tired.

Why _did_ I want to stay? No, why did _Taylor_ want to stay? Swarm was easy; Taylor was hard. What did I have to gain from staying.

I floundered. "My friends are here. Lisa, Brian, Alec… They're all staying. They're not worried. If I leave, I'll have to make new friends. And I don't think I could do that." I stared him in the eye. "This place may not be much now, but it's home. And Zeus is fixing it up. In a few months, we'll be a regular city again. We'd…" I paused. "We'd have to leave Mum."

Dad just kept staring at me before he spoke. "Well, at least you had some good reasons." He zipped up the bag, the sound surprisingly loud. "But I know that it's not the _real_ reason you want to stay."

A chill ran down my spine. He _did_ know. "Dad…" I croaked.

"No." He cut me off. "I don't want to hear excuses. I don't want you to spin me a tale to try and lie to me." He looked me in the eye, and he was almost tearing up. "I know that you are Swarm."

Those six words – those six simple words – rang like a bell. The whole world went silent to me. I tried to come up with something to say, but my mind was blank.

What exactly do you say when your worst nightmares actually happen?

"Did you really think that a suit and a mask would fool me forever?" Dad was saying. "Or were you just planning on never letting me get close enough?" He pressed his hands to his face. "It was the locker incident, wasn't it? That was your trigger. A 'school prank' was enough to… to…" He couldn't get the words out. He took a shaky breath. "And of all the things you could've been, you immediately decided to be a villain?" He nearly sobbed. "Tell me the truth, Taylor. Where did we go wrong?"

"Nowhere." I replied quickly. Dad gave me a look, like he didn't believe me. I had to explain. I had to tell him the truth. "I wanted to be a hero; I really did. The first night I went out, I went out to stop bad guys and prove myself as a hero. I managed to hurt Lung on my first night. But then I met the Undersiders, and they thought that I was a villain like them because of my look." Dad looked up from his hands, wiping away tears. "Armsmaster told me that they didn't have much on the Undersiders, and so I decided to go undercover. Pretend to be a villain until I had enough information, and then turn them in. I figured that would help my career as part of the Wards."

"You…? Taylor, do you have any idea how dangerous that is? This isn't like cartoons. Most villains wouldn't hesitate to kill you to keep you quiet."

"The Undersiders are different." I retorted.

"They still would've beaten you half to death if they found out. If you wanted to join the Wards, you should've told me about your powers and gone through the legal channels." He shook his head slowly. "So, the fact that you're still Swarm means that despite everything, you're still playing the mole? Or are you in too deep?"

I breathed out. "Neither. The Undersiders didn't act _anything_ like villains. They were _definitely_ a lot nicer than some of the heroes. And the longer I stayed with them, the more they became…"

"Lisa." He interrupted me. "Brian. Alec." He gave me a look. "They're the Undersiders, aren't they? Lisa must be Tattletale, Alec's too small to be Grue, so he must be Regent. And Brian…" He paused. "Are you in love with him, Taylor?"

I felt it would be an insult to pretend otherwise. "Yes. But it's one-sided. He's too busy to reciprocate."

"So… you haven't…?" I got what Dad was asking, and we both blushed. "Well, that's a relief. But that doesn't fully explain why you're still a villain. Or… does it?"

I paused, then shrugged. "I decided I wasn't going to betray the only friends I had. And Alex… Well, you'd have to be insane to piss _him_ off."

"Another reason I want you as far away from him as possible."

I shook my head. "I can't, Dad. I've got people who need me. I can't just leave them like this."

"From the look of things, Zeus has things covered. He's got teams and an army cleaning this place up. Nothing would change if you leave." Dad shook his head. "Taylor, why are you so against leaving? We could go somewhere safer. We could get you applied for the Wards. True, they'd put you on probationary status, but it's not like you've done anything _too_ bad. As long as you kept your nose clean, you'd be an official hero within a few months."

I scoffed. Well, nearly. "People would never let me forget that I was a villain, especially amongst the Wards. I'd be the runt of the group, always getting picked on and bullied because of my past. And what if they look at what my position was instead of just my deeds? I managed to rise up to be one of the top villains in Brockton Bay before Alex took over. They might just lock me up instead."

Dad gave me a strange look, and then glowered. "That's just excuses, Taylor. I am getting tired of these excuses. I want…" He stopped, taking deep breaths. He pressed his hands to his face. "I want the truth. The _honest_ _truth_. No excuses; no lies. Please Taylor. Just tell me the truth."

I paused as well. I thought I _had_ been telling the truth. Those were all ideas I had ever since people started leaving. They were all worries that I had for my future. They had to be the truth.

Right?

Dad gave me time to think. I mulled everything over. I originally became a villain as a mole. Then I stuck around, because I had friends that I liked, and because I was afraid of Alex. But then Alex found out, and didn't do anything about it, and my reasons were just to be with my friends. And then we took over, and I helped people. And after _that_ , Alex took over. Dad was right. I wasn't needed anymore. My people would be cared for. Others would just take over my territory. Tattletale, Grue, Regent, and Imp. I could trust them with my people; I would trust them with my _life_.

So then, what _did_ I want? What would I lose if I left?

Then I thought about how people were quieter around me. How my arrival could silence a room, how people stopped fighting whenever I got near. I thought about how strong that made me feel.

And then I knew the answer.

"Before… I was nobody. Weak little Taylor Herbert; an easy target for bullies. But now I'm Swarm. I'm in charge of an entire city district. I've taken down capes bigger and tougher than me. In here, I'm important. Out there…" I waved a hand vaguely. "I'd be a target. Both as a hero _or_ a villain. People would look at me, and see just a weak little girl. I don't… I don't want to give up that kind of power."

Dad looked me in the eye. "So that's why you want to stay? Because you're important here? Because you're powerful?"

"Truthfully? Yes." There was a finality to those words. I had made up my mind. And there was no changing it.

Dad got up from his chair, and approached me. I worried that he was finally going to lose control; to hit his criminal daughter. But what he did surprised me even more.

He hugged me. He pulled me up and held me close. We stayed like that for so long.

"I love you, Taylor." He whispered into my ear. "And I wish that I could go back and make things better. Maybe if I had done something else, you wouldn't have to worry about being seen as weak. You wouldn't have to worry about bullying." He let me go, held me at arm's length. He had a sad smile. "Just promise me that you'll stay a good person at heart."

I felt my heart break at those words. "You're leaving." It wasn't a question.

Dad got up. "I am. I'm… afraid. I know you think this place will be safe, but I'm not so sure." He handed me a slip of paper. "My phone number. So we can still talk sometimes. I'm sure a big bad villainess like you has her own phone."

"Where will you go?" I asked, brushing away tears.

"I'm not sure yet. Wherever they need a union worker maybe. It just… It just has to be anywhere other than here." He grabbed the bag, and started heading outside. "I felt all your stuff in boxes up in your room. I figured that if you were staying, you'd want it all." He stopped at the door, and looked back at me. "Take care of yourself, honey." And then he was out the door.

I was left standing in a truly empty house, alone save for myself. My bugs could feel Dad getting into the truck, could feel the vibrations as it started. I made it out to the front door, watching as he pulled out. He glanced at me one more time.

I used my bugs to spell out words. 'I heart you'. He smiled, and then he was gone.

And now it was just me. All on my own.

* * *

I'd like to pretend that I was a big tough villain, heart too cold to feel tears and loss. But truthfully? As soon as I got back to my lair, I locked the door to my bathroom and cried my eyes out. It was stupid, I know. But my Dad just left me. All because I was too stubborn. Maybe I should've agreed with him, tried my luck as part of the Wards…

No. I couldn't be like that anymore. Weak and meek and willing to go with the flow. I had to stand up for myself. Even if it was against family. I couldn't afford to be too soft now. Even though I working under Alex, the same rules still applied. Be tough. Be fearsome. Make sure everyone thinks twice about starting something with you.

I cried until there were no more tears. From now on, I had to keep Taylor separate from Swarm. I didn't have many people to fall back on, so I had to look strong and in control. I had to _be_ strong and in control. I was now head of my own household, with hundreds of people under my watch.

An idea came to me. One last thing I could do for Dad. And maybe help out people in need.

I wiped away my tears. And then I put my mask back on. Time to get to work.

The guards around Mount Olympus barely paid me any attention as I flew in on Nemean. Not that surprising really; I was flying in on one of them. That meant I was allowed in. I landed near the entrance, and Nemean started rooting into the ground. Transmitting data and receiving enhancements probably. As I approached the front gates, a butler Evolved rose from the middle.

"Greetings Swarm. How can Mount Olympus help you today?" He said politely.

"I wish to speak to Athena about the docks. I have an idea for them that could be beneficial."

"Of course. I will inform her of your presence." He went silent for a moment. "Lady Athena has agreed to your request. She is waiting for you in the 'War Room'." The doors opened wide for me, moving dramatically slowly. The carpet shone bright red, showing me the way. I found Dana sitting at a giant table, head resting on the tabletop. I figured it would be polite to knock.

Dana started, looking up. She gave me a tired smile. "Hey Taylor. Please tell me that this idea is going to make my life easier."

"I'm not sure." I replied honestly. "Have things really been so difficult?"

"Like you wouldn't believe. Problems everywhere. Too much water here, not enough supplies there; garbage everywhere; and then there's all the shit needed to actually _run_ a city." She sighed. "I think Themis might be right about getting elected officials in charge. Then I can finally dump this crap on someone else."

"How are we doing on getting around the Embargo?"

"We're slowly getting there. I've managed to reach some people, savoury or otherwise. But Alex doesn't want to just hand out Blacklight willy nilly."

"He's worried someone might use it as a weapon."

"Yeah." She took a deep breath. "But enough about me. What's the idea you want to talk to me about?"

"I was thinking that… we should open the port again." I said carefully.

Dana stared at me for a while, before taking a deeper breath. "And why should we? I've got enough shit to do without having to get the port repaired and working again."

"Because it would mean a lot of jobs for people. You'd have to have ships to get in new supplies, and some of the people still have skills in fixing up cargo ships. And you would be generating more goodwill from the people."

"Haven't we done enough already? We're fixing up the city, we're handing out free food, and we're dealing with crime here. I'd consider that enough if I was civilian."

"We need all the goodwill we can get." I reasoned. "We're pretty much stuck in the middle of being loved and being hated _just_ by being villains. The port could be the difference between people standing up to the military, and turning us in when things get too hard."

Dana spent far too long staring at me. "Wait a minute. The port was your Dad's dream, wasn't it? He told me that he wanted to get the port opened so that there'd be more jobs. Why isn't _he_ here petitioning me for this?"

I looked away. "He left. He didn't feel safe staying here." I paused. Before deciding to tell her the rest. "He knows that I'm Swarm."

"Oh. Shit." She said. "That's… That's gotta have been rough."

"It was. Things could've been worse, but not by much." I looked back at her. "I want this to show him that I really _do_ want to be good."

Dana paused, but then gave in. "I've got a few wealthy businessmen interested in owning some territory. I'm sure I can find someone I can foist this onto." Her wrist-computer chimed. "I've gotta go. I need to talk to Themis' candidates and make sure they're not going to try and kick us out. I promise that I'll get the port up and running as soon as I get some free time." It was a dismissal; I had to leave.

I nodded. "Thank you, Dana." I left Mount Olympus and returned to Nemean. A few people stopped and watched as I felt, but I imagined that would stop once they got used to us heading into Mount Olympus.

When I got back to my lair, I was surprised to find Brian waiting for me inside. He was lying back in one of the seats, mask off and eyes closed. As soon as I closed the door behind me, he opened his eyes.

"Hey." He greeted. "Your lieutenants said that you had headed out. Figured I'd wait for you here."

"I went to see Athena in the War Room." I replied.

He smiled. "I didn't know we even _had_ a War Room."

"Guess Alex decided he needed one. Just in case." I pulled my mask off, and grabbed some biscuits from the cupboard. "So, what brings you here?"

Brian looked embarrassed. "It's about… Remember when you told me that you had a… thing for me?"

I blushed, remembering the embarrassing event. "Vividly. You said that you were too busy with everything to ever consider love."

"Yeah, I know. It's just that my workload's gotten easier ever since Alex took over. We don't need to worry about committing crimes to please Coil anymore; money's not an issue anymore. And Someone high up pulled strings to get Aisha placed under my custody, so I don't need to worry about _that_ anymore." He shrugged. "And I thought, maybe I should give romance a shot."

I gave him a look, my heart fluttering. "And you immediately thought of _me?_ " I asked.

"Funnily enough, I don't get many people asking me out. To be honest, you were the first in a long time."

"What about Lisa? You two have never…?" I trailed off.

He chuckled. "Nope. Don't get me wrong, I like Lisa well enough. But it's a bit creepy dating a girl who can read you as well as she can. I'd feel like everything I did might end up pissing her off. And besides, Lisa's not much for dating. Her power makes things a bit…"

"Awkward?" I guessed.

"Pretty much."

I won't lie; this was what I wanted. Ever since he let me down gently, A tiny part of me kept hoping that one day he might change his mind. But now that it had happened, I was feeling a little cynical. "This might not work out." I said. "We could end up realising that we're not as compatible as we thought; have a giant row or something."

Brian shrugged. "Then we'll take it easy. Go slowly. If either of us don't feel comfortable, then we can go back to being friends. Sound good to you?" He stepped closer to me. "I'm not good with romance either. This could go miraculously well, or become a complete disaster. But the way I see it, you won't know until you try."

I smiled. "I think I know what you mean. I keep reading stories where two people are in love, and yet never admit it because they're worried things won't go like they wanted. It always annoyed me." I took a deep breath. "Alright then. We'll give it a shot. No promises; no strings attached."

"Cool." We stood there awkwardly. "So… do we start with a kiss, or just stick with hugs for now?"

I thought about everything that had happened over the last few months. Rising up as a villain, helping a bit against Leviathan, becoming one of the masters of the city. The old Taylor would never have been this brave. If Dad said we were moving, she would've argued but eventually agreed. But the new Taylor was made of sterner stuff. She was willing to stand up for herself, to make choices.

I leaned in, and pressed my mouth against his. He went firm, before going soft as he embraced me.

So far, it felt right.

* * *

 **And that's Taylor interlude done. I know I started with Danny first, but that's because it felt right to me. I always felt that unless you hide most of your distinguishing features, someone who knows you would probably recognise you in costume. I mean, Greg did in canon, and he's just her classmate. If he could've, then Danny could've once he connected the dots. Some people might call foul on them leaving on good terms, but I figured it would be too cruel to have her father disown her or something because she's a villain.**

 **I was originally planning on starting with Prometheus attacking Swarm, but I changed my mind in the end. Besides, it'd be kinda obvious how it went. They came, they fought, Swarm tried her best but got taken down, and then Alex took down the PRT and they gave up.**

 **Ok, maybe it's only obvious to me. But I just feel too tired to go back and add that scene in.**

 **Next chapter, the last Interlude. Cauldron. And we can finally move onto the time skip. Just as soon as I have a short break.**

 **PS: Ok, so apparently not many people were hpapy with the next interlude. In fact, public opinion has been that I am a lazy writer and that this was a cop-out. I feel like that's a bit unfair simply because of how broken and overpowered Scion is, but whatever. I'm too annoyed to really give a fuck. Someone pointed out that I could've built up to this event over the next fifteen years, which I feel is a _proper_ bit of constructive critiscism because they're offering me an idea instead of just complaining. So fine then. I'm deleting Aftermath Cauldron and our time skip of whatever-I-feel-like starts from here. If anyone can come up with a way to kill of Scion that _isn't_ just have Alex absorb every parahuman and launch an army of Infected at him (my second-best idea) then please let me know. Don't just assume that I'll come up with something, because having overpowered characters rip him apart was my best plan.**

 **And to anyone who hates having all those characters from other series in the first place... well, fuck you guys. Until I get a better idea, I'm sticking with it.**


	23. Hate Public Opinion

**Hate Public Opinion**

 **Ok, so apparently something that** _ **I**_ **think it awesome and an alright way to get Scion out of the picture is apparently considered crap by everyone else. Thank god I'm taking a break for the rest of the month because I am too pissed off to come up with anything this month.**

 **One fan, ExplosiveDevastation, at least was nice enough to offer** _ **constructive**_ **criticisms about the fact that without Jack Slash I've got fifteen years before Scion goes nuts. Something I didn't think about, and am now using. So thank you Explosive. That was nice.**

 **Everyone else who just complained without actually offering a** _ **better**_ **idea, fuck you guys. That's how pissed I am right now.**

 **I just wanted to kill off Scion so then I could focus on something more original for Alex and Taylor to deal with. But no. Apparently no one realised that I couldn't offer foreshadowing in interludes based on people's POV since this is all internal for Cauldron. And no doubt there are going to be people who will** _ **still**_ **hate that I'm taking overpowered people from other series and having Scion be their punching bag. Well if you hate it so much, then maybe help me come up with something more to your liking. Because the second-best idea I could've come up with was to have Alex 'magically' access everyone's parahuman powers without killing off the entire human race, and then throw a near endless army of Parahuman Infected at Scion until he falls.**

 **But if you guys can't come up with anything better than my idea, then you're just going to have to deal with it, because those two are all I've got.** _ **Especially**_ **when I'm mad. In the meantime, we'll have Cauldron find these planets, find some way to get to them, make contact, and all that shit. So that within fifteen years, we've got a small army ready to rip Scion a new one.**

 **Anyone who doesn't like that… tough.**

 **And another thank you to ExplosiveDevastation for at least offering a suggestion.**


	24. Cauldron story (Omake)

**Ok, so some people who didn't read this in the thirty odd minutes it had been up. Since a few were curious as to what people were complaining about, I've decided to put it up again for them to read. This is _not_ canon anymore. Just for people interested.**

 **Chapter 23: Aftermath – Cauldron (old version)**

Doctor Mother scrolled through the list of all current living Parahumans, changing their ratings and level of importance. Their plans would need significant adjustments after this latest fiasco. So many parahumans died against Mercer. Only the fact that he wasn't interested in destroying the world stopped them from simply annihilating him. It would be difficult, but if they gained access to Blackwatch's databases, it would be doable. He wasn't invincible; just excruciatingly difficult to kill off. She was already coming up with possible contingencies for _if_ he changed his mind. It would not do to give him more powers and even a world to himself without having a failsafe. Not with _his_ biology.

Perhaps they could find an alternate world in close proximity to an asteroid of sufficient size. A few rocket boosters attached to a sufficiently large meteor, and they could destroy the entire planet. The heat of the impact _should_ wipe out Blacklight. She filed the plan away for later tweaking, before getting back to her work.

A knocking at her door. Loud enough to get her attention, but not so loud as to be intrusive. Sighing at this interruption, she put aside her list. "Enter." She commanded. The door opened, revealing Number Man.

"Apologies, Doctor Mother. But we _may_ have an 'incident' approaching." He said in his soft voice.

"What kind of incident? We have so many differing ideas on what classifies as an 'incident'."

"I am afraid that Legend has some grievances with you. Apparently, he is not happy with something we did in the past. At least, that's what Contessa informed me."

"I see. I suppose we shall have to deal with this at some point. You may go, Number Man. Find Contessa, and bring her here. After I finish my talk with Legend…" She stopped. The man himself was fast approaching behind Number Man. And he looked very angry.

Number Man quickly excused himself, while Doctor Mother prepared herself for what will likely be a pointless matter.

At least Legend was willing to wait for the door to close behind him before starting his tirade.

"You lied to me." He said, his voice tight with anger.

"I'm sorry? What makes you believe that?" She replied, honestly curious. Honestly, they kept him in the dark on so many things, it was hard to keep track of them all.

" _You_ said that Cauldron had no idea where the Case 53s were coming from. You told me that William Manton went rogue, and was likely the source of these poor people." He breathed in deeply. "And then you outright confirm that _you_ have been the one kidnapping people. Taking them from other worlds. And then… _using them_."

Ah. So this was about the Case 53s. A bother. But not unexpected. She noticed that some of her papers were askew, and went to fixing them.

"Despite how effective the Number Man's power is, it is _not_ omniscient. He cannot give accurate calculations without having some source data to compare them to. Hence, why we need to test our serums first. Not to mention that there can be many varying side effects when our serums enter a person's body. Really now Legend, you can't expect to create powers without running into some side effects." Her papers now aligned, she turned her gaze back to him. "Our clients expect to receive parahuman powers _without_ the trauma needed to activate them normally. They pay us a significant amount to gain these powers. Are you really suggesting that we reward them by mutating them into monsters?"

"So your bright idea was to abduct people and force these mutations on them? And then dump them on Earth Bet? How the _hell_ do you even justify that kind of behaviour?"

"Easily. The serum used to grant Alexandria her powers had a 99 percent failure rate before she became its first successful applicant. Imagine how much better the world could be if we could mass-produce that kind of power."

"And Siberian? I'm guessing that _his_ power was also one of your serums."

"We believe it was. As is yours, remember? And Eidolon's. Without proper testing the chances of either of you ending up mutated was at least 78.4 percent. We found that too great to risk."

"You're starting to sound _exactly_ like the men that created Blacklight." Legend retorted angrily.

"I know. Despite their ignorance of what they were working with, their goals were quite noble. Enhancing the human race to the pinnacle of evolution. Thank you for the compliment."

"It wasn't a…" She was growing tired of this argument. She interrupted him.

"Legend; in case you have forgotten, we are fighting a war against a callous entity that seeks nothing more than the complete and absolute destruction of the human race. Across all worlds and realities. Sentimentality is a hindrance to our very survival. We must be willing to do whatever is required to stop Scion. Even if some find it distasteful. Those Case 53s gave up their humanity to ensure that we could make more heroes to save the world."

"They should've had a choice in the matter."

"Oh? And you believe that people would willingly become monsters on the off-chance that they gain super powers?"

" _I_ would."

"Yes. But you are rather unique, Legend. Most people aren't as selfless as you are." The door opened again, Contessa stepping in. Her office was starting to get a bit cramped now. "Now unless there are other matters, Legend, I'll have to ask you to leave. A new possibility to destroy Scion has come up." She opened her computer, looking at her list again.

But Legend didn't budged. He just kept glowering at her. "No more." He said. "After this meeting you are to _never again_ experiment on people."

"Or what? Will you expose us to the world?" Legend stopped, glancing back at Contessa. Her Thinker Power made her a stiletto in battle. Moving quickly and dangerously, killing enemies before they could harm her. In an enclosed space such as this, the odds were in _her_ favour.

"Yes. I would." He finally replied.

"…Well, then you will be pleased to know that _if_ this is successful, Scion will no longer be a problem. Of course, there _is_ a trade-off. You're going to have a hard time replenishing numbers without test subjects."

"Then get _willing_ subjects. People who agreed to be tested. Or we're done." And with that, he turned to leave. Contessa and the Number Man filed into the room.

"Will he be a problem?" Number Man asked.

"Hopefully not. He is still very useful, especially after Alexandria's fall. Keep an eye on him, and see if we can come up with an alternative to him." He nodded. " _After_ our meeting, of course."

"Of course."

"What _is_ the purpose of this meeting?" Contessa asked politely. Doctor Mother tapped at her computer, the wall behind her projecting images.

"I know that we have found several worlds with empowered individuals on them, and have made deals with one or two of them." She started. "But after seeing the sheer power and adaptability of Mercer, I had a thought. And so I had Doormaker and The Clairvoyant search _other_ worlds." The wall showed multiple Earths. All appeared much the same, save for a few differences in scarring and structures. "I have found several worlds with _significantly_ more powerful individuals on them. Individuals I believe may be willing to help us destroy Scion. And could very well succeed." She looked back at Contessa, turning her computer to show the figures in question. "Can you convince them to aid us, and will they succeed?"

Contessa looked at the screen, a smile on her face. "Why yes. To both questions."

"Then let us begin."

* * *

 **(The Watchtower)**

"…He threatens every variant of Earth that ever exists, planning a level of genocide never tried before." Contessa was saying. "While he is docile for now, that is only because he is grieving for his mate. As soon as he finishes, he will launch a sadistic assault on every world out there. And he will not stop until we are all broken and dead." She kept her gaze on the leader of the group. "That is why we are gathering a team. We will not sit by and let this happen. Not while we can still fight back. Will you help us destroy him?"

There was a moment of silence. Then the leader stood up from his seat. He was built like a bodybuilder, wearing blue armoured spandex. On his chest was a red shield, surrounding an S.

Superman nodded. "As long as I still live, I will not allow this monster to succeed. The Justice League will help any way we can."

Contessa smiled. "Thank you. This will be the beginning of _his_ end."

* * *

 **(Chaldea)**

"…You cannot find the singularity threatening your future, because it is not on this world. It is an entity by the name of Scion, who threatens all versions of Earth. It will be difficult, and could result in significant loss of life. But we need as many of your most powerful Heroic Spirits to destroy him. Including some who are… hiding great power." Contessa gave a firm look at the peach-haired man standing near them, dressed in medical robes.

The woman before her gave him a look too, before brushing her silver hair out of her face. "I see. Thank you for the information, Contessa." Olga Mari Animusphere replied. "Rest assured, you will have our support. Stopping the extinction of humanity is our sole goal here at Chaldea."

"And… And I will offer my aid too." Dr Roman added, flustered. Olga stared at him again, but he silenced her with a glance. "I don't know how you knew, but I will offer my power as well."

"I know. That was what I was hoping for."

* * *

 **(Gaia)**

"…And so he is an even greater threat then even Chakravartin. And we need your help to destroy him. You've already killed a god; surely you can kill another."

The man before her growled with anger. His muscled skin glowed red, his metallic arms glowing with golden light. White light bloomed from his eyes. He slammed his fists together, and bent back to look at the sky.

" **RRRRAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!"** Asura roared.

"…Thank you. That was an… adequate response."

* * *

 **(Capsule Corp)**

"Wow. You're saying there's a _really_ powerful guy out there looking for a fight?" Goku asked in excitement. "In that case, I'm in."

"Young human, are you saying this 'Scion' wants to kill off all humanity? Does that mean no more Figgie pudding?" A purple cat man asked in shock.

"Yes, Lord Beerus. I do believe that's what she implied." His attendant, Whis replied.

"This won't do at all. I will not allow all this good food to be destroyed. Very well then. I will kill this Scion for you as well."

"And I suppose I should join in, if only to make sure he doesn't kill anyone else by mistake." Whis added.

* * *

 **(Bellwood)**

" _Another_ dimension jumping genocidal monster? And I thought Diagon was bad." Ben Tennyson said. "Sure, I'll help. Alien X will cream this guy like he's nothing."

* * *

 **(Kamina City)**

"Never fear. Team Dai Gurren is at your disposal. We've stopped the Anti-Spiral, and this Scion should be no different." Simon the Digger cried out bombastically.

* * *

 **(Z-City)**

Contessa took a deep breath. "There is an incredibly powerful monster by the name of Scion. He's basically a god. If anyone out there can give you the fight you want, it's him."

The man sitting before her scratched the side of his head before picking his nose. "Yeah, sure. Sounds like fun." Saitama replied. "So where are we meeting up again?

* * *

Scion was flying across the world, working on autopilot. While his mind grieved for his mate, his body was busy helping others. Stopping murderers, saving crash victims, getting people out of burning buildings. Nothing was too small for him. But deep down, he knew this was only temporary. A void within him craved something else, and he already knew what it was.

But for now, he will mourn. Then later, when he was done, he would finish what they started. Perhaps a child could still be formed.

His precog sense warned him of an attack. He already projected a barrier, not even looking. He was shocked and surprised when his barrier shattered, and a fist slammed into the side of his face. He could feel his face warping out of shape from the blow, before the force behind it launched him into outer space. He smashed through a planet, before coming to a halt by his own power. He was somewhere else. Somewhere far away from Earth. That power had been… impressive. But he was prepared for it now.

"Scion!" A voice called out. He turned to see a man in blue flying towards him. He was not attacking; not yet. "We know of your plans for the human race. This will be your only chance to surrender."

Scion responded by blasting him. His power made him unbeatable. If it existed, he could destroy it. Which was why he was shocked to find the man still before him, unharmed.

"Well, I gave you a chance. Team, attack!" He called out, before flying forward and punching Scion. He was shocked; the sheer power behind it was impossible. This man… he had no limits. He was impossibly strong. How could this be?

"Motion carried." A voice behind him called out. He turned to see a… He goggled. A Celestialsapian? Here? A ring of power smashed into him, tearing away at his body. He regenerated, but immediately flew away. While he was powerful, Celestialsapiens were even worse.

He barely backed away before he heard the ringing of a bell. He turned to see a man in impractical skeletal armour appear, and then vanish. Another bell rang, and then he felt unbearable pain in his side. He tried to alter his wavelength, make himself immune to such damage again. But to his shock, it didn't work. It was like…

Like one world's Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

A dozen blades reached out for him. He moved to destroy them, but the angry man from before – now bearing six arms – smashed into him, shattering his power and driving his fists into his stomach. The swords skewered him, coming out his front. Scion smacked the man away before firing a massive blast around him. But it was blocked.

He felt like screaming. They were killing him. Bit by bit, they were killing him.

"Kaioken!" Someone shouted. He barely had time to wonder what that was before he was blasted again. And then a purple cat man appeared before him, smirking as he fired a small ball of energy from his finger.

Scion ached all over as he was blasted away. Before he smacked into someone else.

"You have been a bad boy, haven't you?" An effeminate man said, before flicking him away. The pain was greater than when he was blasted. Filling with anger, he used his power to grow in size. He _will_ crush them. He will crush them all!

"Hey." Someone said lazily. He glanced down to see a bald human wearing a yellow suit and a white cape. "You Scion?"

Scion replied by crushing him between his hands. But then his hands exploded painfully. The human was just floating there, fists extended outwards. "I'll take that as a yes. Cool. Serious Series: Single Normal Punch." The man punched at Scion's chest; a blow he would've ignored easily before. But then pain wracked him, and his chest exploded. His upper torso and his legs floated away as his blood spilled everywhere. He had to pull out more mass to regenerate. He was wearing down.

"Prepare for the power of Spiral Energy!" Yet _another_ voice shouted. He turned in time to see a giant red machine flying towards him, one hand replaced by a drill. And then it slammed into him, tearing at him. "Just who the hell do you think we are? Your playthings?" He was sent flying again. And then that man without limits started pummelling him, knocking him about. And then the Celestialsapian grew in size, and flicked him away. _And then_ the six armed man grew too, slamming into him and screaming with rage.

It was too much. There were just too many. They were fighting through his power, tearing away at his defences. This should've been impossible. He was unbeatable!

"He's weakened! Finish him off!" The limitless man shouted. Everyone started preparing for a final blast.

"You're going down!" The mecha shouted, growing an even _bigger_ drill. The six-armed man grew more arms, fusing them together into one giant arm. The Celestialsapian prepared to erase him from reality.

" **Infinite Mass Punch!"** The Limitless man called out, body glowing.

" **Serious Series: Consecutive Normal Punches."** Baldy's fists slammed into him over and over, turning into a blur that enveloped him completely.

" **Awaken Ea! Enuma Elish!"** A golden man shouted carrying a drill-shaped sword.

" **Anchor of the Storm! Rhongomyniad!"** A woman in silver armour called out, carrying a glowing lance similar in shape to the sword.

" **Be reduced to cinders, Vasavi Shakti!"** A pale man wielding a giant spear called out, power radiating from his weapon.

" **Kaioken times 10! Kamehameha!"** A man with blue hair called out.

All the attacks collided around him… and his body was utterly consumed by pain. He could feel himself being torn apart, warping and twisting under the sheer destructive power used against him.

He couldn't stop this. His powers had run dry. He had nothing left to save himself.

He could only wail as his body was utterly consumed, leaving no trace of him.

Scion – originally called Zion – was no more.

* * *

In a control room watching all of this, Contessa smiled. "Scion is confirmed to be dead. The crisis has been averted."

" _A_ crisis has been averted." Doctor Mother replied. "But there will always be more. We must remain vigilant for them at all times."

"The war for our survival has only just begun."

* * *

 **Scion is dead. Long live the Scion.**

 **But yeah, he's finally gone. I gathered pretty much every overpowered character I could think of from all media to kill this Villain-Sue once and for all. I'm not insulting Wildbow or anything, but as soon as Scion became the villain I just lost interest in Worm. I mean, he's supposed to be immune to nearly all powers, has a blast that can destroy anything, and he's near invincible. It took making him lose the will to live to kill him off, and he still wiped out probably 50 to 70 percent of all named characters.**

 **Now we can go on to some much more manageable bad guys. People that, while tough, can actually be fought and beaten.**

 **And don't worry, people who dislike mega-crossovers. These guys were a one-shot only. Can you imagine how long people would let Alex live for if they had Superman or Saitama on their side? Can you imagine how terrifying and broken it would be if Alex consumed** _ **them**_ **?!**

 **Scary.**

 **And now I'm taking a little break, because doing so much writing at once has left me feeling tired. See you guys hopefully by Feb, where we move past our Timeskip.**


	25. Villainy Villainy Never Changes

**(Author slowly walks onto stage. Looks at crowd sheepishly.)**

 **Um… Hi.**

 **Before I start, I just want to ask you guys something.**

 **Have you ever had a moment where you come up with something; something you think is the coolest thing ever? You've ever had people tell you it's dumb and you just ignored them because you felt that you were right? And then at a later date, you look back and wonder what the hell you had been thinking at the time?**

 **Yeah. That's my feelings on the Cauldron story now.**

 **I still think it's pretty badass. Take my favourite broken characters and basically murder Scion with them. But after I spent some time stewing over my anger and finally calming down and thinking about it some more, I realised that a lot of the complaints had a point. It** _ **didn't**_ **really fit in, and I hadn't really thought about why Cauldron wouldn't just call for them again.**

 **So the Cauldron Story? Not canon anymore. It's being left in as an Omake thing. Just something fun.**

 **I guess I was in such a hurry to get Scion out of the way that I just went with what was easiest, even if it didn't make all that much sense. And I forgot that I've got 15 years before he naturally goes psycho. So for anyone who I insulted, sorry about that.**

 **And for everyone who gave suggestions as to how to get rid of Scion without having a big 'final battle', thanks for that too.**

 **And so now that I've formally apologised, it's time for the next chapter. And setting up events that our 'heroes' might have to deal with.**

* * *

 **Chapter 24: Villainy. Villainy Never Changes**

If Rey Andino had to admit to _one_ major flaw of his, he would have to say it was his inability to look before he leapt. Other people would check all their facts before making a decision; write up a chart on pros and cons. Certainly that's what his more sane Tinker acquaintances would do. But Rey had always been more interested in results and confirming theories than actually following rules. He was always the kind of man who asked whether or not something _could_ be done, rather than if it _should_ be done. Sometimes, it worked out for him, more or less. Other times, not so much. He would end up making a crucial mistake, pissing off the wrong person, and generally getting in over his head. Not a good place to be when all you have to defend yourself is a deeper understanding on plant biology.

Unfortunately, right now was one of the bad times.

He twitched as he walked down the street, eyes jittering from one person to the next. He had been a fool to think it would've worked. In hindsight he should've never tried it. He was extremely lucky to have gotten out of the city with his life. But when he heard of what Blacklight was capable of, of how it could alter genetics within the realm of what was possible… Well, he just had to get a sample. Just a small amount. Just enough to study it. What was the old saying again? 'Stealing fire from the gods'?

Well, he tried it and got burnt. And unlike Prometheus, he wasn't going to live through the eagles pecking at his liver.

His arm burned at the stump, the fungus he applied cauterising the wound. He resisted the urge to scratch it. It had seemed so simple at the time. Snip a tiny bit off one of the strands forming a building. Put it in a jar, and get it home. Start studying it and dissecting it. But everything went wrong the moment he grabbed it. The sample wriggled free of his tweezers. Creatures started howling. And the sample dug into his arm. Panicking, running, he felt his arm ache as the sample got to work. Pulling out a blade, he used fear to work up the courage to sever his arm. He applied the fungus as he ran, smearing it all over. A quick jog to the van, activating the decoy, and then several tense minutes to the border. He heard his decoy scream realistically as it was torn apart.

Now here he was. Back in Boston, and not too far from his new labs. And he was still worried that he was being followed. Any one of these people could be an agent for Zeus. Despite what everyone (or rather, the Government) believed, his reach extended _far_ beyond Brockton Bay. He was among the most powerful figures on the planet, and people would be willing to do _anything_ to get on his good side. He steered clear of the block before him; Evolutionaries hung out there, preaching the word of Zeus to anyone that listened. If anyone had Zeus' spies among them, it was those guys. Taking the twisting turns of the alleyways, he eventually made it to a small, decrepit screen door. It was barely hanging on its hinges, and creaked whenever it was opened.

But behind it and down the hall, a second hidden door opened only to his codes. It sealed shut behind him with a resounding boom. The lights turned on, lighting up the lab and revealing the pristine equipment and tools lying around.

One day, he _really_ had to thank the anonymous donator that gifted this to him. He had a few ideas as to who they were, but he didn't want to make any presumptions. Groaning slightly, he used his remaining hand to grab some seeds. Working quickly, he tugged at some of his hair, dropping it into a petri dish. He snipped at the end of a seed and tossed it in as well, the seed already growing. Once he had waited long enough, he grabbed the seed and shoved it into the fungus. It started growing outward, using stems for bone and muscle. Within minutes, he had a second working arm again. Sighing, he peeled away the fungus covering his face, mopping his brow afterwards.

Sleep. He wanted to sleep. He wasn't a fighter; he wasn't good at keeping calm under pressure. Just getting out of Brockton Bay had tired him out. He was about to hit the bed when his computer chimed. Eying it warily, he approached the screen. An email had arrived, completely untraceable. Yet familiar to him.

After all, it looked exactly like the email he had gotten about this lab, back when he had been looking for a place to stay.

Feeling more awake, he woke his computer up, ready to see what his 'benefactors' wanted.

 **To: Blasto (b1a5t0 )**

 **From: &$%2) (***** )**

 **Subject: Temp Work.**

 **We recently heard that one Blasto was found dead in Brockton Bay, hunted down by Zeus' Hunters for attempted theft. We are sorry to hear that you failed.**

 **But you are on the right track. People like Zeus are a threat to everybody. Parahumans and the like that believe themselves to be above the law in all regards. Capes can't help us. They're just as bad. And worse, fallible.**

 **Anything you make isn't capable of turning against us. They will destroy these threats until death. That is why we need you.**

 **This email was sent with a key to a hidden file in your computer. You now have access to greater resources.**

 **Use them wisely, and for a good cause.**

 **You shall be well rewarded.**

Rey scratched at his chin as he took in the email. Just as he figured, his benefactors were people who hated Zeus. That left him with a few choices. It was probably the Government, or the PRT. They were the immediate choices given their resources and ability to keep themselves off Zeus' radar. Normally, he'd be worried about working with them. But these 'resources' they offered… Well, they were just too enticing. He closed the window, and found a new link on his desktop.

He found two options available to him. Database, and samples. Curious, he opened up the database.

And stared in open-mouthed awe.

The PRT database. He was looking at the PRT database. All the information and data they had collected over the years. And if this was the database… trembling slightly, he went back. Opened up the samples list.

The list was separated into three categories. PRT Cape database. Non-PRT database. And miscellaneous.

He couldn't stop himself from smiling. He had access to every DNA sample the PRT had ever collected. He went searching quickly, but quickly found that all traces of Blacklight had been deleted and removed from the system. A pity, but at least he had other samples to work with. He went down into miscellaneous, eyes roaming as he went down the list. He stopped when he came across three distinct samples.

Leviathan. Behemoth. Simurgh.

An idea came to him. It was even crazier than stealing from Zeus, but he just couldn't leave it alone. Just had to know if it was possible.

Could he take the sample of an Endbringer, and make his own version?

A grin spread across his face as he selected the Simurgh sample. As long as he was careful, there shouldn't be _too_ much trouble. Right?

Right?

* * *

 **(5 Years Later)**

It was a pitch-black night, the moon hidden behind an encompassing layer of cloud. One wouldn't be able to see past the end of their nose in that darkness, or see their hand before their face. The only bright spot in the area, in miles and miles of empty space, was a complex. It was blocky, unmarked, and lacking any distinguishing features. The only oddity was the large amount of lights arrayed around it. Hardly a single area of it was dark.

To most people, it was just some rich guy's storage shed. But what most people _didn't_ know was that the rich person in question was the PRT. This was one of their storage sights. Where they kept any items too dangerous to be used, but too valuable to be destroyed. Now, you'd think that such a place would be well guarded. And it is. But its biggest defence is its remote location. If any parahuman _really_ wanted things hidden away in here, there wouldn't be much the guards could do.

Johnson yawned as he leaned back in his seat, feeling that he may possibly have the most boring job on the planet. No one even knew this place existed. There hadn't been any action here since they opened the damn place. The only time they ever have guests is when more shit gets brought in and dropped off. Honestly, he'd almost _want_ someone to invade just to break up the mind-numbing boredom that is…

Something changed. He couldn't for the life of him tell what, but something happened that made his sleep-deprived mind jolt. He had to rub his eyes as he leaned forward in his seat. Funny. Everything _looked_ to be in order. None of the warning lights were flashing. Nothing appeared to be broken. He glanced at all the CCTV screens. Everything looked fine on those too.

He grumbled as he settled back in his seat. What a goddamn waste of time. And he couldn't even do anything else. The CO already confiscated his phone when he caught him playing games on it. A complete hardass. He was sorely tempted to sneak off to the bathroom, find his porn stash, and start…

He started. There is was again. That annoying feeling that something was wrong. Swearing to himself, he started checking over his instruments again. No warning lights; check. Nothing broken; check. Screens online; check. Lights all going…

Wait. He leaned forward, looking at the screen for the West-most side. It took him way too long to finally notice something off about what he was seeing.

One of the lights had disappeared. Hidden behind some fog or something. No trace of its light.

It didn't _seem_ like normal fog to him. He wondered for a moment whether or not he should let his CO know. Get them to check it out. But he discarded the idea almost immediately. The team would give him hell if he sent them out there for nothing. It was probably just really foggy, and the wires for the light broke.

But then the next light went out. And he realised that the fog was getting closer.

He grabbed his radio and pressed the button. "Guys, we've got something weird going on the West side. Anyone in the area, could you maybe check that out, over?" He released the button, waiting for a response. But it was completely silent. "West side patrol, please respond, over." Still no sound. It was like he was alone. He looked around the screens, trying to spot the patrol. "Phillip, what the hell are you guys doing? I need someone to look into this crap, over." Phillip and his team didn't even react. They just kept walking. "Assholes." Johnson grumbled, linking to a widespread line. "Guys, Phillip isn't responding to my calls. Could someone go to him and get his ass in gear, over?"

Once more, pure silence. Now he was starting to get worried. While he had tried to get in contact, the fog had moved even further in. He decided to check his radio. Maybe the battery went flat or something. But when he glanced down, he found a hole in the plastic. Peeking in, the wires had been sliced apart.

This wasn't mere equipment failure. This was sabotage. Which had to mean that the fog…

Panicking slightly (and a bit happy to have _something_ to do), Johnson pressed the alarm button. But there was no sound. No lights flashing, no doors locking. He pushed it again, and again. More sabotage. Whoever this was, they had been planning for this. He looked up at the screens, hoping to catch sight of the attackers.

Instead, he saw Phillip and his team writhing on the floor, covered in bugs. And then the screen turned to static, the camera cut off. He glanced at the other screens in fear. They were _all_ turning to static. And the few glances he got showed either teammates being swarmed by bugs, or hidden behind the fog.

Wait. There had been two villains from Brockton Bay said to have these kinds of powers. And so if they were here, then that meant that…

"Oh shit." He gasped, grabbing his baton with trembling hands. Zeus. Zeus had to be here. Fuck this job. This place wasn't worth dying over. He fumbled for the door, ready to just hightail to his car and get the hell out of here before he met any monsters. Maybe he'll get himself posted somewhere else. Someplace less important. Guarding a rubbish dump sounded ok. No way that Zeus would want anything from _that_. He finally managed to get the door opened, his fingers finding purchase. He opened it wide…

And came face to face with a black figure. A swarm of bugs resembling a tall woman. He had barely enough time to squeak before the swarm hit him, burrowing into his clothes. He screamed as they bit and stung him, trying to get into his mouth and eyes. Sound was muffled as bigger bugs crawled into his ears and started biting. He rolled on the floor screaming, squashing bugs against his skin. But there were just too many.

And then he was smothered by the fog, and the bugs were the only things he was aware of.

* * *

Down guarding the vault itself, Freefall's first clue that something was going wrong was when he picked up panicked screaming over his radio. When he tried to respond, no one was answering. The second clue was when something big and heavy started tearing into the door at the end of his tunnel. He immediately used his power to flip his personal gravity, falling towards the roof and crouching down.

The far door was torn away, and black smoke billowed and filled every inch of the corridor. Freefall found his world suddenly dark and silent. He couldn't discern anything within an inch of his nose, and he couldn't hear any sound. This had to be the work of the villain Grue.

And that meant that based on intel, Swarm would be with him too.

He felt around the ground before him for a hidden handle, all too aware of the multitude of bugs heading his way. If he couldn't hide from those insects, he would probably be lying on the ground, struggling to get them off. Luckily, he found the handle. Practically falling into the hideaway, he closed the hatch behind him. He calmed himself down, trying to make his breathing quieter.

Several long minutes passed by, his world completely blank. But then the darkness vanished. A thin light shone down through a slit. Cautiously, he slowly and carefully slid the hatch open, taking stock of the situation.

As he expected, Grue and Swarm were below him, examining the door. He took careful note of their appearances, since their photos were a little out of date.

Grue had apparently swapped his biker theme appearance for a more armoured one, with black studded plating covering most of his body. Enough to protect vital areas, but exposing enough cloth to not hamper his movements. Smoke wisped around his body, flowing from vents around him, making noting any more details difficult. So he turned his gaze to Swarm.

She had gone with a more mystical kind of look it seemed. A long flowing cape hung down to her knees, and underneath it was another cloth that hung down lower. She wore armoured gauntlets underneath large sleeves, and was right now holding up some kind of spider creature. Since she was approaching the vault door, it was probably some kind of code cracker or something.

He had to act fast. He couldn't let them get access to the contents of that vault. National security depended on him right now. Breathing in through his nose, he jumped out of the hideaway. And then he altered his personal gravity, pointing it towards Grue and increasing it.

Grue had barely turned around before Freefall slammed into him feet-first, smashing him into the ground. Swarm turned around in surprise, but she already had a baton ready. Blocking the blow with his armoured arm – he still hissed from the impact – he heard something roar behind him. He changed his gravity again, heading towards the end of the hallway. He turned in time to see the monster rushing him, some kind of crossbreed between big dog and insect. He slammed into it, felt its claws scratch at him, before they slammed into the wall outside. They made a pretty big dent, all things considered. He finally managed to grab some foam grenades, sticking two against the beast as he flew backwards again. The grenades practically glued the beast to the wall, but it may not last. Turning around again, he spotted Grue trying to get back up. And Swarm readying a pistol.

Covering his head with his arms, he aimed for Swarm first. That gun would be pretty damn dangerous if he got within range. He felt bullets ping off him, and then he crashed into Swarm. There was a slight resistance… and then he passed right through her.

Shit. If he accidently killed her by mistake, he would be in _so much_ trouble.

As he landed against the vault door, he turned around to see that what he had _thought_ was Swarm was actually just bugs. The real one had been crouched down behind her copy. And then the bugs were covering his helmet, working their way through the vents. Blinded, he could only try to shift away.

A baton smashed into his stomach, hard enough that it still hurt. He wiped away the bugs in time to see the corridor fill with darkness again, blinding him again. He kept going; one thing he remembered reading about Grue was that he could see and hear things inside his darkness. The best thing to do would be to either head out and report this, or just keep bouncing between the two ends and hope that he hit someone.

Mind made up, he shifted back towards the vault door. He went feet first, ready to smash into something solid.

Instead, something solid found his chin. He dropped to the floor as he teeth clacked together, a ringing in his ears. He heard his helmet click as the locks came off, and then there were bugs biting at his face. His yell of pain sounded very small in there.

And then the shadows parted, and he looked up in time to see a skull man punching him in the face.

* * *

I winced at the sound of the hero's head smashing against the floor. His body went limp as he was knocked out. Grue stood over him, rubbing his fist.

"That was a bit much, wasn't it?" I said reproachfully. "He was already practically down and out." I grabbed his helmet from where Grue had thrown it, ignoring the man under the mask as I put it back on. I wasn't here to learn someone's identity; I was here for a job.

"That first blow hurt like hell. When you're running on adrenaline, you tend to want some revenge." Grue replied, barely sounding sorry. He picked up the hacker spider we were using and placed it on the control panel. A quick message from me, and it woke up and started hacking the door.

Left with nothing to really do, and no one to really impress, I ended up smoothing down the front of my suit. Grue gave me a sideways glance. I think. I've gotten better at guessing his mood behind his skull helmet, but it was still tricky sometimes.

"Sorry." He finally said. "That guy surprised me, and I guess I lashed out. I thought that this area was clear."

"We both did. _I_ was the one checking with my bugs. _I_ somehow missed him. Him jumping us was _my_ fault."

"Still should've paid more attention. I'm the leader. I should be more aware of things like that."

I shrugged. "Everyone has off days. Today was one of those days. Shit happens."

"True. But at least we're nearly there." The door finally chimed, the spider done cracking the code. I had it scurry back to me as the heavy door opened wide. I quickly checked on our escort, found him nearly free of the foam. Confident that he would be ready for any _more_ unexpected surprises, I followed Grue inside.

It was amazing how much stuff was inside here. How much contraband the Protectorate and the PRT had seized from villains. It would've taken all day to search through everything, longer to get it all out. But we didn't have days; someone was bound to notice that this place had gone dark.

Luckily for us, we already knew what we were looking for.

"I'll look around here." Grue said, already moving to the labelled shelves. "You have your bugs check the higher levels." I nodded, already at work. Dozens of bugs crawled out from under my suit, buzzing up and around. I closed my eyes and focused my power. Hours of practise finally paid off.

I was seeing what my bugs were seeing.

Of course, if they were normal bugs, the world would just be a jumbled mess. Like looking at something someone had drawn in an art program at max zoom. Luckily for me, these bugs were modified to perceive the world with much more clarity. With them, I had managed to read an entire page of a book legibly. And whether from training or my powers, I didn't have as much difficulty receiving so many images as I thought.

With nearly fifty bugs flying around and reading tags, it didn't take nearly as long as I thought to find the tag I was looking for. I still shuddered as I read the name.

Bonesaw.

"Found it." I said aloud, opening my eyes. I sent all the other bugs towards its location, before leading Grue after them. They were high up, near the top of the shelving. Grue found a sliding ladder, and moved it in place. He held it like a gentleman for me, and I started climbing.

Of course, I was pretty sure he was taking the time to admire my ass.

Get your mind out of the gutter Taylor. Focus on the mission. I reached the drawer quickly, and gave it a tug. Thankfully, there was no lock on it. They must've believed that the vault door and the guards would've been enough to keep people away. Personally, if _I_ had been holding onto stuff from Slaughterhouse Nine, I would've thrown in a _lot_ more security.

I reached into the drawer and grabbed the handle. Pulled it out as far as it could go. And grabbed a large clear box. One of two.

Inside, was one of Bonesaw's spiders. One of her bots that helped her alter and control innocents. Just holding onto it made me feel ill.

I looked down to check if Grue was ready, and then I dropped it into his waiting hands. Waited until he put it down, grabbed the second one, and dropped that too. Now that we had what we came for, I closed up the drawer and slid down to ground level. Grabbing one case, we left the vault, sealing the door behind us. We took the elevator back up to the outside, finding it just like we left it. Dark, silent, and swarming. Our ride, a giant Hydra, sat waiting off to one side. My bugs all flowed back towards me, and our Infected re-joined the Hydra. We hoped inside the hollowed out insides of the Hydra, and as soon as the doorway sealed up we were moving. We buckled ourselves and our cargo in as we tipped downwards.

Behind us, the darkness was fading. The lights were turning back on. Apart from some sabotage and reports, no one would've known that we had been there.

Mission accomplished.

* * *

The two of us sighed in relief as we levelled off, a seatbelt sign flashing off to let us know it was safe to move again. I slipped off my helmet, letting my hair spill over my shoulders. I leaned back, sighing in relief.

Sure, the mission hadn't been that difficult (barring one surprise). Sure, we got away without any trouble. Sure, we got our objective without even _spotting_ any reinforcements. But I still always worried when we went on a mission. I was almost certain that the next one would be the mission that took us down. Some might call me pessimistic, but I felt that our luck would only last for so long. At some point, we were bound to fuck up.

Brian took of his own helmet, standing up and stretching. The black smoke had stopped billowing around him, making his figure easier to see. He had worked up some more muscles, but not to point of parody like those weird images of gym-hogs absolutely bulging, with pecs on their pecs and weird shit. He was still slightly slender and athletic under all that muscle, able to throw a punch when needed and dodge a blow if he had to. And despite how firm he looked, he was still gentle to the touch.

And yes, I have first-hand knowledge of that.

"Feeling like having a drink." He said as he unhooked the bag strapped to the wall, opening it up to grab a drink bottle. He held out a drink bottle to me. "You want one too?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, thanks." I took a deep, long gulp of the bottle, drinking up nearly half of it at once. "How do you feel? It looked like that hero hit you pretty hard."

"A little sore, but not too bad actually. The armour numbed the nerves for me. I'll probably have to be careful not to stress anything for maybe a day or two though. Don't want to injure myself further." He slowly twisted his shoulder in its socket. "But hey, at least the mission was a success."

"Yeah. I just wish we hadn't been after _those_." I looked at the cases with distaste. The spiders moving slightly inside of them. "Why would anyone want those things anyway? They're horrible."

Brian shrugged. "The employer said he had a Tinker who could reverse engineer them. Make them into medical equipment. Don't know enough about Tinkers to know if that's true or not. But if they're lying to us, I doubt Alex will let them live for very long."

He was right. Alex wasn't fond of people lying about their motives to him and using him. Partly it was because as king of Mount Olympus he couldn't afford to be made a fool of, but personally I think he was tired of being used like a tool. Whatever the reason, anyone that lied about their interests usually ended up with a personal visit from Alex. Or whatever they wanted being crammed down their throat and out their chest.

As for why we and Alex were working for an employer? Because despite being in charge of Brockton Bay for five years, it was still kind of us against the world. Officially, the embargo against us was still ongoing, and wouldn't come down until we surrendered control of the city. No one was to do business with us, offer donations, or enter our borders.

Unofficially though? Pretty much everyone ignored all those rules. Despite the ships blockading our harbour, we were still getting supplies coming in. They slipped past underwater, in the dark of the night, and even in one special case just turning into a Titan and almost smash its way through. We even started moving underground, bringing in whatever we needed. As for business, well some people are willing to do anything for a quick buck. Villains, PMCs, the black market… Thanks to our 'villainous' connections, we had made a lot of allies eager to be on our good side. Donations were deposited in the Blacklight churches, and then shipped off to Mount Olympus, and as for border jumpers… Well, no matter who they are, no one is able to stop border jumpers.

And of course, it helped a lot that we were _technically_ the safest city on the planet.

But the one thing that was difficult to come by was the money needed to buy all our supplies. A city's income comes from trade, and ours was barely holding up. City Hall had to balance offering more jobs with letting the Infected work for free, and you couldn't keep everyone happy. So we offer ourselves as mercenaries. If someone wanted something done, we would get sent out to deal with it. Every villain that worked under Alex was expected to take part. No exceptions.

Not that I was complaining, of course. You couldn't have a bunch of villains ruling over a city without giving them something to do. At least mercenary work kept us all busy. And personally, if it was helping the city, then I would be willing to help out any way I can.

That didn't mean I had to like every mission though.

"I just feel like this is a bit like handing Blacklight to someone. Yes, they _say_ they're using it for a good cause, but it could just as easily be used for a terrible one. He could be building more mangled horrors, like Bonesaw did." I said.

"Well, unless you're willing to not hand it over – and probably piss of this guy _and_ Alex I might add – there's not a lot we can do. We'll just have to cross our fingers, and hope for the best." He munched on a sandwich we had left in the cooler bag. I grabbed an apple. We just sat there and ate for a while.

After he threw his rubbish back in the bag, he got back up. "Well, I'm going to bed. It's still going to be a few hours before we get back to Brockton Bay. Would be a good idea to rest up before we get there.

I smiled a little as he passed by, standing up myself. "I think I might join you." Brian stopped. Turned slightly. Gave me a smirk.

"Wasn't there a book you said you wanted to read on the way home?" He said.

It was my turn to shrug. "It can wait till home. I feel a bit tired too, to be honest." I walked towards him, placing a hand against his chest. He kept smirking as he put an arm on my shoulder. It made me realise that we were practically the same height now.

"Alright then. But nothing too strenuous. I'm pretty sure a doctor would tell me that my arm can't handle it."

"I could give you a massage." I replied in some weird tone. It was, and has always been, my best attempt at being sultry. To me, it always sounded to breathless.

Brian smiled now, gently walking me to the room at the back. "I think that sounds wonderful, actually."

The bugs streamed off me and my suit, staying behind as Brian closed the door.

* * *

We were woken up by the sound of a fist hammering at the door. "Hey, lovebirds!" Tattletale called out. "Get your clothes back on and stop wasting everybody's time! The client wants the package ASAP!"

"Just a second!" I shouted back. Or at least I thought I did. In my foggy mind I could've just gurgled at her. Rolling out of bed in just panties and a singlet, I had to stumble around a bit while remembering where I had dumped my suit. But I eventually found it on top of a chair. By the time I had put on my socks and slipped into my suit, Brian was…

How did he get fully dressed ahead of me? He had been sleeping like a rock when I woke up.

When we opened the door, we found Tattletale on the other side, smirking to herself. "Typical." She said. "We send you two on a dangerous mission, and you both start making out like rabbits before you're even home."

"Nothing happened." Brian replied defensively. "It was a long trip, and we were just sleeping together."

"As in we shared the only bed. And we were actually sleeping." I added hastily, blushing under my mask.

"Suuure you were. Just maybe keep your pants on for future missions. The kind of people contacting _us_ aren't the most patient people." She turned away and headed for the boxes, grabbing on and lifting it to eye level. "They don't look like much." She noted.

"They were Bonesaw's. So assume they're nastier than they really are." Brian cautioned, taking the box from her and grabbing the other one. We exited the Hydra to find ourselves inside Den Station, a little underground area for travelling Hydras. As we headed upstairs, our ride started moving for the bigger den further on, where it could rest and wait for new orders.

Outside, an Infected-drawn rickshaw was waiting for us; big enough for the whole team and decked out in our logo. Brian secured the boxes as Tattletale and I jumped onboard. The rest of our crew was already waiting for us.

Unlike me and Brian, the others hadn't really updated their looks since I first joined. I suppose it's probably because they're less likely to get into combat situations quite like we do. Or maybe they just didn't feel like they had to show that they're pretty much nobility in Brockton Bay like _I_ did. I always saw respect as a big part of villainy, and a good way to get respect is to look the part. But I could be biased; the power to control bugs never sounds like a strong power at first. Brian upgraded simply because he attacked up close. He wanted something that could help him survive hard-hitting attacks, and let him wrestle with bigger tougher foes.

The rickshaw shuddered slightly as we got moving, heading through the New Athens district for Mount Olympus. It wasn't officially called New Athens, but everyone said it so often that the name stuck. It was bigger and better looking since it was first built. Alex used the last few years to smooth things out, make them look more normal. There was just enough Blacklight influences around though to show that this place was not truly normal.

Alec let out a fake groan as he stretched, resting both feet on the seat before him. "So, how was Texas?" He asked us. "Boring as all hell, like always?"

"It was mostly quiet. An easy job again until the end. A hero with gravity powers surprised us."

"Sounds like Freefall." Lisa said. "He's a bit of a rising star in the Protectorate. Can affect his personal gravity to make him heavier or lighter, and choose a direction to go sailing off in. He usually fights by dropping down on people with twice his weight. He's not so fancy indoors though. Not enough space to get some speed."

"There wasn't anything in the briefing about him being there." I said firmly. "We need to get on top of that kind of stuff, or the next mission could have Eidolon or Legend waiting for us. We could end up with life sentences, or worse."

Aisha shrugged. "What's to worry about? We distract them, run back here, and we're safe. They can't do anything to us. Not with Alex watching over us."

"Won't do us a lot of good if we can't get back." Brian argued. "Taylor's right. We need to have a better idea of just who we might run into from now on."

"I'll talk to Dana; see if we can't do something about that." Lisa said. The Rickshaw slowed as we stopped for traffic. I took the time to look out the window.

Just beyond, Mount Olympus rose up like an actual mountain. Alex had been piling on biomass, using metal from Kaiser's power to help support its weight. Several towers jutted from it, casting long shadows over the ground. Alex clearly followed the same line of thinking that I did.

It wasn't enough to be the biggest badass in the room. You needed to make sure everyone _knew_ you were the most important guy.

The lights changed, and we made it to Mount Olympus without any more hold ups. Going through one of the entrances around the side, we ended up on an elevator that walked up the walls towards the higher levels. After that, we hopped out of the rickshaw, grabbed the cargo, and headed through the far door that automatically opened for us. The inside was as dark and imposing as the outside; all dark materials and straight lines. A short walk through the hallways led us to the Throne Room, where Alex and Dana were waiting.

Dana smiled and waved as we entered. Alex, standing over by the large windows overlooking the city, turned and stared at us. He gave us a curt nod; that's practically a warm welcome from Alex. "You're back. The mission was a success?" Alex asked.

"See for yourself, boss man." Imp said cheerfully, grabbing one of the boxes and tossing it towards him. My heart jumped a bit as it sailed through the air, almost certain that it would shatter, and then we'd have metal spiders trying to carve us up and modify us…

Alex's fingers lengthened, and he grabbed the box as easily as catching a tennis ball. He observed the spiders, and took in the slight scratches from where they had tried to break through. "The doctor will be happy to have these." He said.

I felt like now was a good time to speak up. "Are we certain we can trust this guy with those? They could cause a lot of damage in the wrong hands."

"They could." Alex agreed. "But the money he's paying is far more important to us than the moral implications of handing dangerous items to anyone other than ourselves."

"Besides, we need to act like professionals. That means _not_ betraying our employers because we don't trust them." Dana added. "Is this guy legit? Maybe. Would I trust him with my life? Probably not. But sometimes you gotta just take a leap of faith." A squat creature grew out of the ground, Alex dropping the box he held on top of it. Brian handed the other one over. "I'll get those shipped out to our buyer ASAP. You guys get a twenty percent cut, and we'll have enough money to keep paying people wages. And then I'll need to check with Mayor Dooley on who gets more funding." And she walked off, the Infected waddling next to her.

Leaving us with Alex.

Alex turned away, his arms crossed. "The six of you have been on at least three missions altogether in the past two weeks. Dana told me that I need to give you some time to rest and recover, so any missions that come up will be handed to the Travellers to do. You're now dismissed. Go count your money or whatever you do on your days off." The door back to our rickshaw opened. His way of saying that the conversation was over.

"So why does he keep staring out the window?" Alec asked, once we were back in the rickshaw and heading downwards. "Is he just trying to be melodramatic?"

"Maybe?" Lisa replied. "He doesn't relax like regular people, and we're the closest things he has to acquaintances, so we know he doesn't socialise. What exactly do you do when you're the 'lord of the city' and there's nothing left to do?"

* * *

Alex kept staring out the window of his throne room, drinking in the view of Brockton Bay. The repaired offices, the new homes, the roads and freeways linking up the city. The window flexed slightly, zooming in on the city centre. Humans walking around, taking advantage of his Infected creations. He watched as people hopped onto a repurposed bus he and Hephaestus had modified into a suspension carriage. Some could say that it was a possibility of the future; mundane and Tinker tech, working together.

The window returned to normal. He commanded the pane next to it to show an image of what Brockton Bay had looked like five years ago. The shattered buildings and roads, the holes in the ground, the water flowing everywhere. It was a marked difference from what it was now.

He felt some manner of pride in his work. In five years, he took a city moments away from being abandoned and made it a living city again. He cleaned out the filth and dregs, and made things peaceful. He did a better job than the Protectorate or the PRT, and no one could pretend otherwise.

Still, he also felt a sense of resignation. An emptiness inside of him.

He wasn't blind to this. He knew that one day he would be left without something to do. The fact that he was for all intents immortal, and didn't have any interest in normal human activities, meant that eventually, he would've been rudderless. He would run out of things to do, people to kill. Even his drive to evolve was nearing its end. Without an actual challenge, he couldn't evolve. He was getting close to an evolutionary dead-end.

He would have to talk to Dana about this. Maybe _she_ could find him something to do with his life.

But she was busy right now. So he just kept standing there, staring out the window at the city below.

Three quick knocks. And then Alex waited. A confirmation from Dana, and then he entered her room. Courtesy between siblings. He found Dana sitting at her desk, tapping away at her computer. Multiple screens grew from the wall, showing dozens of different reports. News channels, internet, world map, and the like. More screens along the next wall, showing the same thing. He took a quick glance at them, looking for anything that he might want to know.

He stepped closer to one of them; a screen showing the front page of a newspaper website. **Followers of Zeus Stopped in their Tracks** , it said. The picture below showed the Protectorate standing triumphantly over defeated villains. He didn't recognise any of the costumes.

Dana saw him taking an interest. "Not the most accurate of names, is it? Government probably wants them to imply that we're behind it."

"What is it about?" He asked.

"Some villains wanted to jump on the conqueror bandwagon. Take over their own city and live like kings. The Protectorate stopped them cold."

"They're getting stronger again."

"Five years, fear that the 'Big Bad Zeus' starting a conquest of the world, more attacks from villains... means more Trigger Events. More parahumans. And therefore more heroes."

"Does your intel suggest that they might attack again?"

"Not likely. _Definitely_ not in big enough numbers. The newbies, they might try. They've got nice shiny new powers, they've beaten some villains, and they might think that they've got what it takes to 'free' Brockton Bay from us. But the guys who were here when we won won't let that happen."

"Good. Glad they're learning." He turned away from the screen, looked towards Dana. "Anything else interesting going on? Like someone trying to muscle in?"

"Nothing on that front. After we wiped out the Teeth, chatter like that went dark." She gave him a concerned look. "Still not having any problems with Butcher?"

He gave a slight smirk. "Nothing. The voices of fourteen people are nothing in a sea of a hundred."

"Glad to hear it. But so far, everything's been quiet around here. Heroes and villains fight; one side comes out on top. The biggest news is mainly about that former actor. John something-something. The one who went nuts and killed his three girlfriends and then said that he was being mind controlled."

"Sounds boring."

"Yeah, it is." She suddenly snapped her fingers. "Oh wait. There _was_ something else. A bunch of high profile murders." She tapped at her keyboard, bringing up a different article. "It's a little nasty, but since when would you give a shit?"

Alex leaned over her shoulder, taking in the article. It was talking about how a young actress, Monica Chamberlain, was found in several pieces in her home. There was no sign of a break-in, and so far police are suggesting that this is a parahuman attack.

Normally, he would've asked what this had to do with _them_. But right now, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. He should at least be aware of any potential competition. "You got more info on this?" He asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do. I managed to get the report from the coroner, along with pictures of similar crime scenes." The screens all changed to show different pictures. The actress was front and centre, a mixture of photos taken at the crime scene, and at the morgue.

As the article described, she had been exploded. Her torso was ripped apart, and her limbs were lying haphazardly around the room. According to the report, there was no scorch damage on the limbs, and the damage caused to them resembled someone (or some _thing_ ) tearing them off like an insect. He looked at the others. A man with a blood splatter around where his head would've been. A woman ripped in half, her intestines dragged out of her body. A man with a hole in his chest. A woman with her pelvis area exploded. There were even a few children; the only way you could tell was the size of the remains.

He frowned, noticing similar details on all the remains. "These weren't caused by conventional explosions. They look more like something forced their way out of their bodies."

"Like those chestbursters from Alien? Gross." Dana looked at the pictures again. "That would be a nasty way to go."

"It would be. Unless they came out near vital organs you're more likely to bleed out. Death would take between ten to thirty seconds. Damage would be too great to heal without parahuman help. A bullet would be merciful."

"Yeah." Dana replied, distracted. "Wait. I think I just noticed something." She zoomed in on one of the remains. That of a child. Filtered the picture contrast. A giant patch of white, along with several white boot prints heading away from the remains. "You see that? Someone walked through that."

"Yeah, they did." The boots definitely suggested human; there was no reason to incorporate boot prints in a beast. Inefficient. "Bring up the other pictures again. The ones for the crime scenes." Dana did so, and they both looked through them carefully. "We've got another boot print." Alex pointed at the woman with the exploded crotch. "Same imprint."

"Got one here on the headless body." Dana said. "And there's another with the woman ripped in half."

"They match up with the direction her intestines are going. They must've been wrapped around his leg." Alex noted. "This isn't some creature bursting out of them. The same guy grows out of their bodies, tearing them apart as he displaces them." It would explain why they only found fragments of rib cages, spines, and skulls. A human figure growing out of those areas would shatter them like a bomb.

"Ant Man." Dana suddenly said. Alex looked at her in confusion. "You ever heard of Ant Man?" Alex dived into his memories, seeing if the name resonated with anything. Thankfully, he got a match.

"Ant Man. Real name Hank Pym. A fictional character created by Marvel. Uses the Pym Particle to alter his size, making him the size of an insect or the size of a giant." He recited. "You're thinking that's what this killer's power is."

Dana shrugged. "It makes sense. He gets really small to sneak in the homes and get inside their bodies, and then he returns to normal size, ripping them apart as he does so. That is… legitimately terrifying." She started tapping again. "I'll put this all into their files. They'll probably change their security again, but I figure they should have some idea on what to look for."

Good idea. Let the Protectorate hunt this killer down. Unless someone paid them to deal with it, this man wasn't his problem. He was about to ask Dana what he could do for 'fun' when he noticed something else in one of the pictures. He leaned in again, vision zooming in on the picture. "Dana. Zoom in on the photo of the headless man. On the wall above his body."

She did so, revealing that someone had cleared away some of the blood. Enough to scratch something into the wall. _MACELLUM IX vitae._

"What is that, Greek?" Dana asked in confusion.

"Latin. _Google Translate_ Latin actually."

"Ok. So what does it say?"

Alex glowered at the photo. "Basically, 'Slaughterhouse Nine lives.'"

* * *

Blasto hummed to himself as he worked on his creations, so invested in his work that he didn't even notice how off-key he sounded. The little dears were coming out so well. All failures and dead ends were culled, leaving the best to keep growing and improving. The samples gifted to him had been the best thing ever. Almost as wonderful as that sweet lady he met one day. Nothing could compare to _her_.

Taking a deep breath, he stepped back and adjusted his glasses, unaware that the lenses had shattered years ago. In fact, his whole appearance was in disarray from how much work he had been doing. He had lost weight. Had he lost weight? Didn't matter; women loved a slim guy anyway. He looked at all the labels of the growth tubes. Chevalier. Aegis. Triumph. Bastion. Glory Girl. Clockblocker.

Behemoth. Leviathan.

There was the sound of feet against floor. "I'm back." A sweet, sweet voice called out. Blasto smiled even more as he turned around, the most beautiful woman standing before him. She had long white hair, pale skin, and feathers covering her body. Her face was slanted just right to be exquisite. "How are our babies? Are they growing well?"

"Right on schedule." Blasto stuttered. "In just a couple of months or so, they'll be fully formed and ready to live."

She pulled him into a hug. "Wonderful work my love. And they will have the powers of their samples? Bastion will be able to create barriers?"

"Somewhat." Blasto admitted. "There _is_ proof that our powers can affect our cellular structure thanks to people like Canary. But in most cases, the effects are minor or miniscule. But by splicing them with my usual creations, I should be able to boost those minor effects to at least something substantial. They will never be anywhere near as great as the real deal, but they will still have power."

"Oh, that is wonderful." She kissed him deeply. "I love you Rey."

Blasto turned bright red. "And I love you, Morrigan."

* * *

 **Before any of you guys start asking, I have** _ **no idea**_ **how sampling Protectorate DNA would grant powers. That was just the only reason I could see as to why in canon, Blasto used Myrddin DNA for his Endbringer creation. I mean, if he wanted human DNA to shore it up he could've used** _ **any**_ **DNA. So there's got to be something he could work with. And they make it clear that the fact that Morrigan is a Simurgh-Myrddin hybrid is apparently really important.**

 **Besides, having an army of plant/parahuman mutants would** _ **definitely**_ **give everyone a challenge to work through.**

 **And yeah, Slaughterhouse Nine is coming back. I was trying to think of a power that could be incredibly lethal, was watching Civil War recently, and then I wondered 'what would happen if Ant Man got inside your ear and then grew to regular size?' And that's when I realised how perfect that power would be for a murderer. (You can make guesses as to how he got inside of them, though I think it's pretty obvious with the woman with the shattered pelvis area.)**

 **Oh. And I had Alex say it was written in Google Translate Latin because that is what I used to get it in the first place, and I don't know how accurate Google Translate is. It could make me sound like an idiot.**

 **Finally, to anyone wanting to see a big fight between the Teeth and the Pantheon… I am terribly sorry we skipped over it.**


	26. Macellum XI Vitae

**Sorry I've been away for a while. Had a bit of Writer's Block, and got a bit busy with Destiny. Oh, and I wasn't feeling too well for a couple of weeks. But I figured I might as well use the Easter Weekend to get away and do a bit of writing. Get** _ **something**_ **done at least.**

 **I just want to say thank you to the people that are joining us recently and enjoyed the Omake. Even though you guys think it would be nice to keep in, I still feel like leaving it non-canon and putting a bit more effort into dealing with Scion. And I also want to thank Dymian for offering the idea for the first half of this chapter. As you can tell from the title, this is more for setting up future S9 members.**

* * *

 **Chapter 25: Macellum IX Vitae**

Gregory Smiles was quite happy working at Royal Treasures, one of the swankiest and most expensive jewellery stores in Boston. There was something pleasant about how orderly and clean this place was, where you didn't have to deal with the chaos of a large crowd of people and constantly worrying that someone would try some shoplifting. Here, the clientele was _very_ exclusive. The latest fashions, the most expensive gadgets, the largest bank accounts. And the large pay check at the end of the week certainly made things a bit sweeter. Smiling politely, Gregory pointed out to a new customer the different jewels and gems on sale. The lady was hooked by a ring with a grape-sized diamond and etched in thin lines of gold. A winning smile from him, a great sales pitch, and the customer left 20,000 dollars lighter and yet a hundred times happier. Smiling to himself, Gregory moved onto the next customer.

Just then, a new person entered the store. And the chatter stopped as suddenly as if a corpse had flopped in. The figure before them was thin and malnourished, wearing drab and frayed clothing. His boots were practically grey, the leather wrinkled like elephant skin. His pants were crisscrossed with patches and stitching, flopping around his boots. And his leopard-print jacket had faded so much that the spots had almost disappeared, and was clearly three sizes too big.

Gregory blanched. Royal Treasures was just as well known for its clientele as it was for its wares. A man like this poisoned the entire store just with his presence. Even as he watched, he saw several customers wrinkle their noses, and move to leave. Panicking slightly, he rushed around his counter to stand in their way. "There's no need to leave." He said quietly. "Our store deals _exclusively_ with people like your good selves. Just give me a moment to sort out this dreadful mess." And taking a deep breath, he turned around to the vagrant standing in the doorway. "Excuse me sir." He said loudly. "But I'm afraid that this store is too expensive for you. I'll have to ask you to…"

The man stood up straighter, revealing his face to Gregory. His skin was clammy and pales, veins standing out everywhere. A small ragged white beard hung from his chin, framing pointed teeth. Curiously, his hood bulged a lot above his head. Something about his appearance made Gregory stop talking. He knew he should be removing this man, but… why? He… he belonged here. Yes, this man obviously belonged here. He was clearly wealthy enough. He could almost hear the crowd relax, and the everyone went back to what they were doing. Gregory felt a strong urge to smile widely at the man. The man smiled back, and he felt like he had to smile even more. His jaw muscles were almost snapping from how big his smile was. The man smiled even wider, and turned away. Gregory felt himself relax suddenly and his face ached. Taking deep breaths, Gregory moved back behind the counter, eager to get on with his day. He started making a sale to a regular. A very wealthy man and his needy wife, always in to buy a new accessory. She was interested in the pride of their store, a necklace with a massive jewel. Easily as big as an egg. He was just about to finish the sale when it felt like something was digging into his skull. The lady's voice grated on his nerves, making his skin crawl. His vision was turning red, and the blood was pounding in his ears. Arguments were getting heated, and the room felt smaller. The wife fired off a foul curse, and he immediately punched her in the face everyone broke out into a brawl, throwing each other to the ground and smashing faces through glass. His customer snarled at Gregory, and he responded by jumping over the counter. He crashed into the man, and wrapped his hands around his neck. He hated him; he hated this man for as long as he knew him. He hated his tie, he hated his face, he hated his weak behaviour. He pulled away one arm and started punching him, ignoring the fighting around him…

And ignoring the strange man watching all this, grinning even as his hood seemed pulsated.

* * *

Rising Boston hero Lucky Luke grimaced as he exited the PRT truck, glad his expression was hidden behind his bandana. He hadn't heard all the details yet, but apparently this was going to be nasty, even by Protectorate standards. Flanked by a couple of PRT officers like an honour guard, he ducked under the police tape and approached the officer in charge.

"Glad to see a hero joining in." The office said. "I think this might be a bit outside our capabilities. It looks… Well, it's a horror film in there."

"Good think I watched a lot of them when I was young. I don't scare so easily." Lucky Luke replied, trying to appear braver than he really was. "Let's have a gander." As they entered the sight, he took a glance at the sign on the front of the store. Just their luck that one of the most expensive shops in the city got caught up in a murder spree.

Inside, he had to stop and catch his breath as he took in the scene. About 13 people in total, dead. Carved up by glass, bones broken, and piled up together. He stepped over one pile, the two customers' limbs tangled together. Glass crackled under his boots.

He glanced at another pile; a staff member, lying on top of another man. "So, any ideas what happened here? Did a Brute come marching in here?"

"Um, we don't think so. In fact, as far as our initial findings show… these people killed each other."

Luke raised an eyebrow. "They all started killing each other? Over fancy rings and necklaces? I know people can kill for things, but I can't see anyone _actually_ killing each other like this."

"Neither did we. So we thought to have a look at the CCTV." He leaded the way into the back offices, where a series of screens were arranged around a room. Right now, they all showed police and PRT searching through the debris. The officer sat down at the desk, tapping away at the console. One camera dominated the screen, before rewinding to earlier that day. The dead people were walking around, happy and oblivious. Then, what looked like a hobo walked in.

Luke leaned in. "Don't recall seeing _him_ amongst the bodies."

"Good eye. We didn't either. But at least we know why." He unpaused the video. Sped it up until people started fighting. They watched as everyone started bashing each other, tearing each other apart. And during all the fighting, the hobo just stood in the eye of the storm. Untouched by the fighting. And after everyone had finished dying, he walked out to the back rooms. Came out with cash. And walked out the door, like nothing even happened.

The officer stopped the tape. "So, our hobo walked in the store, somehow convinced the clerk to let him stay, and then barely 10 minutes after he shows up everyone goes rabid and murders each other."

"Probably some kind of Master. Emotion control. Rack up everyone's aggression until they snap. And he's not in this for the money. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in gold and precious gems, and he just goes after the contents of the safe?"

"He's doing this… for the thrill of it?" The officer sounded sick. "Oh god. Not again."

"Yeah. He's trying to be a one-man Slaughterhouse 9." Luke replied grimly. He had only been a kid when the last one had been around, but he had heard all the stories about them. The stuff of nightmares, the monsters in the closet, the new millennial Rippers. And then they made the mistake of pissing off the wrong monster and were wiped out entirely. That was probably the first act that solidified Zeus's credentials as one of the strongest villains around.

"Wh-Wh-Wha do we do? I… Slaughterhouse 9 is too much for us. We need…"

"First thing is to get a grip." Luke interrupted the officer's panicking. "He's not S9. He's just some insane lunatic that _thinks_ he is. Put out an All-Points Bulletin on this guy. Get everyone looking for him. And when we find him, we should take him out with a sniper. If we keep far enough away, his powers shouldn't be as effective on us."

"I… Yes sir."

"Good. And maybe we can finally move the bodies. Give some people some closure." And with that, he headed back outside. He couldn't do anything here in a broken shop. His skills were in stopping psychopaths like this guy, not cleaning up. He needed to be out there, looking for this guy. He headed for the van, ready to head back to HQ and get the search started.

He was surprised as the PRT officers that had arrived with him jumped in the van like someone had kicked them in. The wheels were spinning before the back doors had fully closed. He had to brace himself to stop himself from flying.

He bit back a curse. "What the hell?" He called out, struggling to his seat and buckling in. "What's going on?"

"Sorry sir. We just got another call. There's a mass suicide going on downtown." One of the officers replied.

"What kind of mass suicide? Are they drinking something? Falling over dead? Give me some details."

"Jumping. We've got people jumping off a skyscraper. Just lining up for it, acting way too orderly about it. Like they're robots or something."

Robots? People were just marching off like they were being ordered too? Or were they being…?

He groaned as everything clicked. He knew _exactly_ what was going on.

"Send word out to all officers at the scene. We are dealing with a parahuman here, Master 7 at least. Has the power to affect people's emotions. Get a helicopter in the air and look for a man in a jaguar coat. Lethal force is authorised." The officers glanced at each other, but didn't say anything. After Zeus took over Brockton Bay and other villains took advantage of the Protectorate's weakened state, heroes were given permission to authorise kill orders if they felt it was necessary.

"Understood sir."

* * *

Their van arrived just in time to see five people hit the pavement at over 40 miles per hour. Blood and guts splattered everywhere. And from the number of bodies, they hadn't been the first.

Luke jumped out as soon as he could, running across the road for a command centre hastily set up opposite the skyscraper. He passed by teams carrying nets and trampolines, everyone rushing as fast as they could to save as many lives as they could. Inside the centre, he found the officer on duty. Along with Boston Protectorate leader Gaia. The green-haired woman was watching a live feed, showing Wind Turbine and Stratosphere trying to catch people out of the air. But it was obvious that there were just too many people to save.

Luke cleared his throat. "You uh… you got my message?" He asked. He always felt nervous around Gaia now. Probably because they had a thing when they were younger, and he _may_ have cheated on her once.

Gaia barely looked up. "We did, thank you. Chopper's incoming with a sniper. ETA…" She glanced at the officer with her.

"Two minutes and closing." He replied.

"Two minutes? They'll all be dead by the time it arrives. We need to get someone in position right now." Luke said, nearly shouting. The sight of those bodies everywhere freaked him out. This wasn't what he wanted to see today. "Give me a rifle. I'll get onto the next roof over and blow his brains out."

"By the time you get into position, the helicopter will already be here. You can't go any faster than that." The officer answered.

"Stratosphere could…"

"She's busy catching people and lowering them to the ground." Gaia interrupted. "If we take her away to get you in position, then we'll lose even more people." She finally looked up; looked him in the eye. "I know you want to help. But there's nothing else we can do right now. Our first warning was when the bodies started falling. Just take a deep breath, calm down, and help any way you can." She turned back to the officer, asking if any big plants had been delivered yet. Luke stormed out of the tent.

He knew she was right. Those skyscrapers were so tall that getting to the top of any adjacent tower would take at least three minutes or so by elevator. And that's assuming it was already on the ground floor. But he still was just so pissed off. He wanted to stop this, he wanted to save lives. His powers weren't good at catching people. They were good at stopping villains. And right now, he was in a position where he couldn't do either.

Screw it. He wasn't giving up just yet. Determined to peg the sonovabitch, he hurried off to the armoury. Grabbed a sniper rifle and a grappling line. Ran to a building tall enough for him to see the people on the roof. And sheer luck allowed him to find an elevator ready to go.

When he exited onto the roof, he found the helicopter already circling, just like he was told. A sniper hung out the side, rifle at the ready. Luke tapped into the comms, ready for a status update.

"This is Zulu Delta Niner. Target has been acquired." The helicopter crew reported. "Having some mechanical error though. Stick's a little sticky, over."

Luke tapped his comms. "Delta Niner, this is Lucky Luke. I have an eye on your bird. Swoop to your left and circle round. That should give your sniper the angle he needs, over."

"Roger that Lucky Luke. Circling now, over." The helicopter tilted slightly, veering off left and moving forward. The sniper had a perfect view of the parahuman and his victims. He readied his rifle, moved to squeeze the trigger…

An air conditioning unit suddenly ripped away from its base, hovering between the sniper and the villain. The bullet still punched through it, but the mass caused it to veer off course. It missed completely.

"Tango not down. Repeat, Tango _not_ down. Has Striker powers, telekinetic, over." More bits of metal orbited the villain, creating some kind of protective barrier. The sniper fired again, but his round was deflected again. This time into a person.

Luke fired up his comms. "Sniper, watch your targets! There's civilians in there, goddammit!" He shouted angrily.

"What's the point?"

Luke started. "Excuse me?"

"They're all gonna die anyway. Falling, choking, getting hit by some fucking freak. The world's nothing but a pile of shit." The sniper said morosely. Luke could only watch as the helicopter listed sideways, barely straightening out. "We should just put everyone out of their misery."

"Command." That was the pilot. Sounding as if he was fighting something. "He's not what he appears to be. He's not an empath."

Gaia's voice sounded. "Report, pilot. What have you found out?"

"He's… He's in my head. Whispering things at me. Telling me what to do. I can't… I can't control my arms anymore." The helicopter started drifting downwards. Towards the people still falling. The sniper muttered something about how it was all futile, right before he jumped out. "I… I think… he's a…"

Then the man went silent. His bird moved right into position. The next set of jumpers were instantly blended by his blades.

Cursing loudly, Luke readied his sniper rifle. Found the villain, orbited by debris. Blood dripping from his nose. Snarling, Luke pulled the trigger. And like before, instead of his head being turned into the mist, debris blocked the bullet. Ricocheting it.

But this guy didn't know Luke's powers. PRT had him figured for a Blaster/Thinker hybrid. His bullets didn't behave like regular bullets. As long as he had a target in his sights, he could still hit them.

The bullet bounced off the roof, skidding off a piece of metal before bouncing again and going through the villain's hood. But the bastard ducked at the just the right time, his barrier dropping. His hood was torn away by the force, flapping against his back. And when he got back up, Luke could see how his skull curved back, like a banana.

A Master with emphatic powers, telekinetic control over items, and can forcibly take control of human beings. With a giant skull, and therefore a giant brain. This wasn't a Master. This was something impossible.

A genuine psychic.

" _Yes, Mr Harvard."_ A voice sounded in his head. " _A psychic. Which means that I know every action you will take."_ The crowd of people stopped marching off the roof; turning back and surrounding the psychic. _"You care about these ants. Enough that it_ _ **pains**_ _you when I hurt them."_ His arms started shaking, and a spike of pain ran through his brain. Against his will, he felt his finger tighten on the trigger. _"How much will it hurt to know that_ _ **you**_ _were the one that killed these people? How many rounds will it take to kill everyone here?"_

Luke snarled. The only person dying today was the bastard in the middle. Laughter filled his head. The man thought this was funny. He probably felt safe and secure. His finger tightened fully, and the rifle fired. The bullet went flying, straight for the heart of a businessman.

But Luke's power curved the flight path. The bullet curved past the man's shoulder, wormed its way through the crowd, before hitting the roof on an angle. Instead of going upwards away from the crowd, it ricocheted nearly 180 degrees, bouncing off… something, before twisting again and passing through the crowd again, covered in blood. The crowd dropped to the ground, showing the psychic writhing on the ground. Luke didn't waste a moment as he felt his body return to his control. He fired again.

The psychic propelled an air conditioner unit into himself, sending him skidding. But as he got to his feet and ran, the bullet bounced off after him. Just missing before bouncing back around again. It was going to keep going until it got him. The psychic jumped down the stairwell, and the bullet followed him. Luke sighed in relief as he watched him go, glad that no one else was dying today. With shaky hands, he tapped into his comms.

"All units. Target is a psychic. I repeat, target is a fucking psychic. He can hear your thoughts and get into your head. Hunt him down, and end him. Over."

* * *

Back in Brockton Bay, Dana was looking at the canvas Alex had set up for himself. One of three. The first was a perfect replica of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, probably exact in every detail. Dana was willing to bet that even the best art critic wouldn't be able to tell the two apart. The next one was… not so good.

She pointed at it. "So, what exactly am I looking at here?" She asked. The second artwork was a mess of colours, like Alex had just grabbed cartons and thrown them at the canvas. Alex shrugged, arms crossed.

"I tried something different. My lessons told me that one can express themselves by painting whatever comes to mind, or even just throwing ideas at the wall. I… may have taken it a bit literally."

"Mmhmm. So, what comes to mind when you see this?"

"…Painting is confusing."

Got it. And what about _this one_? What does it say?" She pointed at the final canvas. Well, calling it a canvas was being generous. It was a mess of colours and slashes. It was like Alex decided to toss in a few chainsaws while he was at it.

"It says that I hate painting. And having to express myself."

"Oh. Yeah. I see it now." They both gazed at the ravaged painting before glancing at each other. "Sooo… Not painting?"

"Not painting." The artwork dissolved into biomass, turning back into the walls and floors.

"Ok then. We'll just try another hobby."

* * *

Legend floated down from the skies above New York to gaze upon the trail of destruction before him. He hadn't heard about it on any official channels, but it was the kind of trail that's a little hard to miss. And it was seeing destruction like this that made him hate having to be out of contact while with Cauldron. Spotting Aegis at the entrance, he floated down to the ground. And grimaced. Aegis looked like he got hit by a lawnmower. Parts of him were still inflating. The younger man turned as Legend landed.

"Legend." He wheezed.

"Hello Aegis. Sorry I wasn't here earlier. I was out of the country for a meeting." Legend replied. He turned around to look at the damage. A trench dug through the city, a solid straight line out to the other side. "What happened exactly?"

"Parahuman. We're putting him at a Brute 9, Breaker 4. Goes by the name of Unstoppable." Aegis explained.

"Is that what his power is? Being unstoppable?" They both headed into the trench, following its path. Legend spotted footprints imbedded into the ground.

"We think so. Once he starts moving, he shifts into a state that causes kinetic energy to be reflected and anything he hits to give way under his blows. But it's only really strong from the front. From any other direction, it's just stopped."

"Turning himself into a human wrecking ball." Legend noted, stopping before a hole in a wall. It was slightly bigger than the two of them, but vaguely human-shaped. "So anything that hits him from the front gets reflected back, and anything that gets in his way is smashed?"

"Or pushed aside or pummelled. That's what happened to me. I tried to punch him, and he knocked me down and trampled me."

"Makes me wish I had been reachable. Maybe we could've stopped him."

"Don't know for certain. But we do know he's not unbeatable." Aegis smiled, showing missing teeth. "I hit him from behind, thinking that maybe I could punch him into submission. I managed to make him stumble and fall over. I made him bleed. And then he got moving again and was unbeatable again."

"So he needs to stay in motion to be unstoppable. Makes sense, actually. If he's stopped, then he's not unstoppable." He glanced upward, saw someone smeared against a wall above them. "What was his motive? Was he after anything, like gold or something?"

"Nothing. We think he just wanted to destroy for the sake of it." Aegis paused, biting his lip. "Boston had something similar. A real psychic, making people kill themselves. Do you think we might be dealing with…?"

"Another Slaughterhouse? It's hard to say with any certainty right now, but I think they might. We've had parahumans murdering people everywhere right now. And the people doing it would've fit right in with the old group." He took deep breath. "We should get the word out. That these people are highly dangerous, and need to be killed on sight. We've got enough trouble with Endbringers and morale. The last thing we need is another S9 running amok."

"Yes sir. But uh… I have a suggestion sir." Aegis said. He glanced around furtively before leaning in close. "Why don't we set things up so that they clash with Zeus instead?"

Legend gave him a look. "Are you suggesting this so that we don't risk our lives stopping these monsters? Or because you think they might actually kill him? Because we can't, in either cases."

"Am I allowed to ask why? It's just that after seeing friends die to that…" Aegis took a deep breath. "I just don't like losing people sir."

Legend put a hand on his shoulder. "Nobody does, Aegis. But trying to get Zeus to do our dirty work isn't going to work out in the long run. We can't really get thee people to head to Brockton Bay, so that would mean luring Zeus out here, where he'd be fighting them amongst innocent people. If Zeus kills them, then he gets their powers for himself. And what would people say when they see that Zeus has taken out S9 twice? He'd end up in a better position than before, and we'd look even weaker. But if _we_ stop S9, then people will remember that it was the _heroes_ that saved the day. And it shows that we aren't going to kowtow to every would-be dictator and tyrant with a strong power."

"And _then_ could we take Brockton Bay back?"

"One step at a time Aegis. We'll deal with the most _immediate_ threats first. Zeus hasn't really done much else for the last few years. Maybe he actually _is_ just happy with one city." He turned away and started floating away. "The world isn't as black and white as we like it to be. Sometimes to make sure things are good, you have to let some bad people get away with bad things. If we keep a cool head on our shoulders though, we'll win eventually. Understood?"

"Y-Yes sir." Aegis grunted. But their conversation made Legend think. Even though Cauldron were 'employing' Mercer, they didn't actually have a clue what he was doing. He could be creating more strains.

Or worse.

* * *

Deep in Mount Olympus, a man with brown hair and dressed in a knight's armour stood beneath a balcony, a fair maiden in a dress high above. The man knelt on one knee, an arm raised up towards her.

"But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief, that thou her maid art far more fair then she; be not her maid, since she is envious; Her vestal livery is but sick and green and none but fools do wear it; cast it off." The handsome knight crooned. The woman fluttered her eyes.

From the seating below the stage, a lone woman threw popcorn at the man. "What did you say to her?" Dana yelled.

The man stood up and rolled his eyes. "Do I have to repeat the entire verse?" Alex asked, annoyed. "I was definitely loud enough."

"No. I meant 'what did all that bullshit even mean'?"

Alex stopped, and then shrugged his shoulders. "Juliet's as beautiful as the sun, and the moon's jealous of her?" He guessed.

"Oh really? I thought you were saying her dress made her look ugly and she should get naked."

"There's that option too." He saw Dana roll her eyes and heard her sigh.

"Cut." She groaned. The stage, the seating, and Juliet all melted away, the room returning to an empty box, the two of them alone. "This… isn't working." She sighed.

"Of course it isn't. Art requires passion, skill, interest. I've only got one of those things." Alex growled. Then he made a seat for them both and sat down, moping. Dana pulled out a list, and crossed another item off it.

"Ok then. So theatre's a complete bust. So was painting. And filming. And I still don't know how you went from photography to arson."

"I got frustrated."

"And so you smashed a car."

"What's next on the list?" Alex asked, hoping to steer the conversation elsewhere.

"What's next, what's next? There's competitive gaming. Your reflexes would let you clear the board… Actually, maybe not. The online community's like 90 percent griefers, trolls and assholes. You'd listen to them for five seconds before you start hunting them down." Another item crossed off. "Pottery maybe? Do something with your hands? Or how about glassworks? You like making things with your hands. This could be a chance to make something other than gore."

"That's what you said about painting too."

"Fine, Mr Killjoy. No pottery or glasswork." Another item off the list. "I'm just going to say some ideas aloud, so don't bother trying to answer them just yet." She started pacing. "Construction? Nah. You've done enough of that already. You could just become one of your beasts if you ever got the urge to build more buildings. Inventing? I mean, this world is way too much like ours in terms of technology given all the super powers and Tinkers. Where's the jetpacks? Where's the hovercars? Why am I not living on Mars and poking aliens up the ass with a laser gun?"

"Tinker technology…"

"I _know_ Tinker technology is impossible to replicate without Tinker powers. But still… there should be _something_. Before we took over, I had to look up at the Protectorate tower just to remind myself that we're on another fucking planet." She turned to Alex. "Well?"

"I got a degree in genetics, not engineering. And most of the people I consumed hunting down Gentek were the same. In real life, just because you're smart doesn't mean you can be a genius in every scientific branch out there." He explained.

"So… You _don't_ know how to build a hover car?"

"I don't even know how to build a regular car." Dana sighed, flopping backwards. A chair rose to catch her, moulding around her body. She glanced at her list again.

"What about sports?" She asked.

"Sports? Like biking, running, basketball and football?"

"Yeah. What do you think about it?"

"I think I'd immediately get kicked out for performance-enhancing powers. And for being a dictator. Besides, where's the challenge in outpacing humans? I could score a goal before they even start moving. I could smash through the opposing team if I wanted to, or just throw the ball to the other end of the field."

"Alright, alright. It was just a suggestion. So much for gambling." She glanced down at the list, puffing out her cheeks. "Ok Alex. We've gone down this whole list, and nothing has interested you. There's only one thing left, and I want you to _promise_ me that you'll say yes."

"I thought you told me to never say yes until I hear what I'm agreeing to." Alex replied. "But fine. What is it?

"College."

Alex blinked. "You want me – a guy who can learn anything by eating the right person – to go back to college?

"Think of it as a self-imposed challenge. Instead of just consuming someone who put a shitload of effort into learning something, you do the effort yourself. You can motivate yourself to learn everything you can about whatever subject we agree on. You get to hang out with people, assuming you ever get the crazy urge to finally socialise."

"Don't hold your breath. I distinctly remember my fraternity being nothing but pranks and goofing off. And one guy who thought the resident nerd would've been an easy target."

"You never told me about that. How many teeth did he have left?"

"Plenty. I just broke both his legs after he burned my thesis. Shot his dreams of ever being a star football player. He and I never crossed paths ever again." Alex paused. "Mostly because when I was 20 he found me and tried to run me over. I managed to escape, made him crash his car, grabbed the gun he was waving and shot him in the head. Turned out that Gentek paid good money for new bodies to test on."

"So that's why Gentek paid a lawyer for you." Dana chuckled. "Well, promise me you won't at least kill anybody this time."

"I haven't even agreed to this yet."

"Come on Alex. I've been working my ass off to find you a hobby. The least you can do is fucking give it a try." Alex looked up at her, and at her fierce determination. He sighed.

"What should I get a degree in?" He asked.

* * *

 **Yeah, so we've now got a psychic in the Wormverse. I know that Wildbow says that psychics don't actually exist, but Dymian pointed out a good point. The biggest argument in canon against psychics is that they'd need huge brains to process all the information they receive, and probably to project their thoughts. But Taylor controls millions of bugs, and can have groups doing dozens of different things at once. That would** _ **also**_ **require a huge brain to process all that information. And yet her head is perfectly normal. So maybe psychics are actually possible.**

 **And we see a few new heroes that sprung up over the years. Gaia is pretty much their Poison Ivy. Someone who can control and affect plants. She's like a Tinker, except that she doesn't need equipment to affect the plants. Wind Turbine is an aerokinetic. Or an Airbender if you prefer. He usually creates blasts of air to blow people away. Stratosphere is a flier that can move pretty fast and can go pretty high up. She can't leave the planet, but she can still go far. And Lucky Luke has improbable ballistics as a power, along with a slightly enhanced physical capability. He won't be wrestling people or running up buildings, but he's officially the fastest gun in Boston.**

 **And finally, yes, we might see Alex going to College under new identities. I'm just going to spoil things and admit right now that his college days aren't going to be smooth. If we see him, he probably going to end up involved in stuff.**

 **So see you guys next time (Whenever the hell that might end up being).**

 **Edit: A fan named Darksider1073 sent me a PM suggesting that I perhaps bring Cole MacGrath over into the Shardsverse. I've had a couple of ideas for Cole, simply because he could be good or evil, and given the number of complaints last time I introduced another crossover character, I decided I would check with you guys about it first.**

 **So, should I bring in another crossover character? And if so, should it be Cole from Infamous, or Delsin from Second Son? Give me your thoughts, and really make it clear how you feel. If lots of people aren't keen on the idea, then** _ **please**_ **let me know** _ **before**_ **I write him in. Thank you.**


	27. Where's the story?

**Story Update**

 **Ok. For a lot of people, you're probably wondering what's going on with me and this story. You might be wondering if I've given up or something. I haven't given up yet. I've just been busy with the never-ending complicated process known as life. It is way too easy for a month or more to pass you by in a hurry, what with work, appointments, and recreation. But something else that's taken up a lot of my time is that I've started brainstorming and writing my own** _ **original**_ **story.**

 **Yes. An original story of my own design. (Although let's be real, in this day and age, practically every story has similarities with other stories out there.)**

 **So that's taking up a lot of time because, obviously, you have to come up with the setting, the rules of the world, the characters and relations, and the plot of the story. Oh, and every little detail that could turn a four page idea into an actual novel. So that takes a lot of planning, writing, reading, replanning, rewriting, rereading, etc, etc.**

 **So if I take a long, long time to put up a new chapter… now at least you know why. Now at least I've got an excuse besides probably being lazy.**

 **And because I'd probably get quite a few PMs asking me about my story, here's the general idea.**

 _ **In a fantasy world under siege from a Dark Lord, the villain Naraxxas has vanished. His evil forces have been routed. But instead of everyone celebrating and having a time of peace, most of the kingdoms are gearing up to take land and settle old grudges. One kingdom under threat, Helvarch, realises that the only way they can survive is by setting up a fake enemy to unite the world again. So they grab a well-trained recruit named Allana, and have her (yes, her) agree to pretend to be Naraxxas. So now Allana has to juggle remaining good and noble in the heart of evil, while still keeping up the masquerade of being one of the vilest men on the planet. And also dealing with everyone wanting her head on a platter, and her own allies being ready to stab her in the back.**_

 **And that's the general plot so far. Here's hoping I can get something good out of it. And if anything in there sounds way too familiar (mostly any names I have mentioned so far), please let me know, along with the source material.**

 **PS: If you read more than one of my stories and receive an update for them, it's just this update again. You only have to read it once.**


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